Podcast appearances and mentions of Richard Edelman

In this episode of the Executives' Exchange, which was recorded in front of a live audience on January 30th, 2025, we feature Richard Edelman, President & CEO of Edelman, along with Tom Wilson, Chair, President, & CEO of Allstate, and our gracious guest moderator, Isis Almeida, Chicago Bureau Chief at Bloomberg. This year's trust barometer touches on the rise of income-based trust inequality, rapidly polarizing trust disparity among younger generations, and what leaders can do to regain public trust across companies and government.     00:00 – Intro   00:58 – 25-year Overview on Rising Distrust  02:20 – 4 Important Developments Contributing to Distrust  03:50 – Trust Research Deep-Dive  09:10 – Businesses Role in a Time of High Grievance   11:25 – 5 Things Employees are Asking of Their Company  13:05 – 3 Actionable Steps for Recovering Trust  14:58 – Shure Ad Break  16:35 – How We Got to a High Level of Public Distrust  19:27 – 2 Responses to Addressing Organizational Distress  20:42 – How Executives Should Prepare for Trump Administration  24:15 – Perspectives on DEI Initiatives  27:20 – The Public Perception of Wealth  31:31 – AI's Impact on Employment  37:34 – Wilson's 2 Steps on Rebuilding Trust  40:16 – How Young Generations Absorb Information  43:03 – Whose Responsibility Is It to Reskill People?  45:10 – Getting Beyond the Anger Stage  47:43 - NGOs Role In Rebuilding Trust  49:35 – Merging Necessary Changes with Shareholder Value  51:09 – Outro    Episode Link: 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer | Allstate | Bloomberg    Guest Host: Isis Almeida, Chicago Bureau Chief, Bloomberg    Producer: Eva Penar, Chief Content & Communications Officer, The Executives' Club of Chicago        Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.     Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Shure Incorporated.    For nearly 100 years, Shure Incorporated has developed best-in-class audio products that provide high-quality performance, reliability and value. Headquartered in Niles, Illinois, our history of innovation and expertise in acoustics, wireless technology, and more enables us to deliver seamless, transparent audio experiences to a global audience. Our diverse product line includes world-class wired and wireless microphones, networked audio systems and signal processors, conferencing and discussion systems, software, a loudspeaker, and award-winning earphones and headphones.    Find Shure on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram 

Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, hosts Jim VandeHei, CEO and C-Founder of Axios, and interviews him about his book, ‘Just the Good Stuff' and how the media and business leaders can build trust.  First aired in May 2024.

Trust is the lifeblood of business. That makes Edelman's annual Trust Barometer a must-read for leaders. This week's guest is Richard Edelman, the CEO of global communications firm Edelman. This year marks Edelman's 25th year doing the Trust Barometer. Richard Edelman talks to hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller about why trust is more important today than ever, and gives an update on which sectors are gaining or losing on the trust scale. The conversation also highlighted a generational divide around trust, and touched on the importance of business leaders working together where possible to help address some of society's most intractable issues. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

In the first of a series of interviews with the leaders of agencies around the world, Paul Holmes sat down with Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. In a conversation that covered the firm's history, the reasons it has remained committed to its independence, its Trust Barometer research, and the challenges Richard sees ahead as the competitive landscape evolves. Future editions of this podcast will feature a wide variety of leaders, from giant multinational agencies to small specialist boutiques, from all of the world's regions as we seek to capture what drives success in a dynamic, fast-changing, hyper-competitive PR business. Read highlights from the episode here: https://www.provokemedia.com/long-reads/article/richard-edelman-i-like-to-run-the-pirate-ship

The latest guest on The PR Week podcast is Richard Edelman, global CEO of the largest agency in the world, who was eager to praise the performance of his firm, and that of rivals, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Edelman explains how his firm changed its strategy at Cannes and why he believes PR agencies are uniquely positioned to succeed at the annual festival. In non-Cannes news, he discusses his agency's financial performance in its fiscal year, acquisition targets, President Joe Biden's lackluster debate performance and many other topics.  Follow us: @PRWeekUSReceive the latest industry news, insights, and special reports. Start Your Free 1-Month Trial Subscription To PRWeek

Episode 060 - Richard Edelman, Chief Executive Officer, Edelman  We welcome back Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, to discuss the Edelman Trust Barometer a second year in a row. The 2024 findings explore the collision of trust, innovation, and politics in an era of rapid innovation. In this episode, we'll dive into how institutional leaders can build trust as stewards of change and support the innovations that will power our future. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on February 7, 2024.    00:00 – Intro   00:56 – Trust Barometer Intro   02:53 – The power of innovation & acceptance  04:04 – Developing countries higher in trust  04:49 – Business is more trusted than other institutions   05:42 - The Midwest is the least trusting on business  06:18 – U.S. trust is falling in Southeast Asia  06:60 – The Information War  07:46 – How the pandemic has influenced trust in innovation  09:19 – Innovation is becoming politicized   10:38 – The fear of innovation being poorly managed   11:55 – AI has the potential to be the leading edge of innovation - if well-managed  12:32 – Trust in science & innovation  14:08 – Antipathy to innovation is a global phenomenon  15:46 – Implementation vs. Innovation  16:13 – Why should businesses partner with the government and NGOS?  16:46 – Bringing science back with society  18:37 – Message from our sponsor, Shure  19:08 – Why innovation?  20:44 – Why is the Midwest the least trusting?  21:38 – What is making people feel innovation is mismanaged?  23:10 – The importance of upskilling  23:49 – Business & government   25:18 – Trust in Science & Vaccines   26:28 – The global phenomenon of trust   27:30 – Trust in social media & news  28:10 – Business partnering with government   29:27 – A warning to brands seeking attention   20:41 - Outro    Episode Link: Edelman | 2024 Trust Barometer    Guest: Richard Edelman, Chief Executive Officer, Edelman  Host: Margaret Mueller, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Executives' Club of Chicago    Producer: Eva Penar, Chief Content & Communications Officer, The Executives' Club of Chicago      Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.   Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Shure Incorporated.    For nearly 100 years, Shure Incorporated has developed best-in-class audio products that provide high-quality performance, reliability and value. Headquartered in Niles, Illinois, our history of innovation and expertise in acoustics, wireless technology, and more enables us to deliver seamless, transparent audio experiences to a global audience. Our diverse product line includes world-class wired and wireless microphones, networked audio systems and signal processors, conferencing and discussion systems, software, a loudspeaker, and award-winning earphones and headphones.    Find Shure on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram 

A new report points to a crisis of trust in innovation, and the risk that rapid technological change — especially in the field of artificial intelligence — will fuel increased populism and polarization across societies. Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, discussed these and other findings from the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer during visits last week with the global communications firm's clients in tech-heavy Seattle and San Francisco. GeekWire sat down with Edelman during his visit to the firm's downtown Seattle office for this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. He discusses the shift in trust from top-down authority figures to local relationships, with employees and consumers expecting companies to take a stand on important issues.  Edelman suggests that businesses and technology leaders need to focus on implementation, adaptation, and acceptance of innovation, and to be transparent and clear in their communication with the public. He calls for collaboration between businesses, government, NGOs, and media to ensure that innovation is well-managed and benefits society as a whole. Related links Access the full 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer report. Edelman: 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Reveals Innovation has Become a New Risk Factor for Trust Richard Edelman: Technology Industry Watch Out, Innovation at Risk Axios: Public trust in AI is sinking across the board  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Les entreprises doivent rester en dehors de la politique et de la géopolitique. Le message est clair, il est net et il émane de Richard Edelman, le patron de la plus grande agence mondiale de relations publiques. Ce spécialiste de la communication estime que les entreprises n'ont rien à gagner à se mêler de politique et de géopolitique mais ,au contraire, n'ont que des coups à prendre. En effet, il estime que ce sont soit les clients qui sont affectés par les prises de position de l'entreprise, soit ce sont les employés, soit les deux. Ce spécialiste des relations publiques n'est pas en train de demander que les entreprises reviennent en arrière sur la défense de valeurs comme l'inclusion ou encore la diversité en entreprise. Par contre, il dit que cela doit rester en interne au sein des murs de l'entreprise et non pas se transformer en discours militant avec des prises de positions externes. Le message lancé par Richard Edelman aux entreprises de rester en dehors de la politique et de la géopolitique n'est pas simple à suivre. Car paradoxalement, le sondage qu'il a mené auprès des citoyens de 28 pays montre que les citoyens ont perdu confiance dans leurs hommes et femmes politiques. Et ce non respect de la hiérarchie mais aussi des autorités politiques conduit aussi, selon ce sondage, à nourrir la désinformation. La confiance envers les députés et les ministres s'est réduite au profit d'une confiance beaucoup plus locale. Les citoyens font donc davantage confiance à leur maire, donc aux bourgmestres, qu'aux entreprises. mais aussi davantage confiance aux informations véhiculées par leurs amis ou leurs proches par WhatsApp. Mots clés : géopolitique, économie, europe, entreprise, politique, désinformation. --- La chronique économique d'Amid Faljaoui, tous les jours à 8h30 et à 17h30. Merci pour votre écoute Pour écouter Classic 21 à tout moment : www.rtbf.be/classic21 Retrouvez tous les épisodes de La chronique économique sur notre plateforme Auvio.be : https://auvio.rtbf.be/emission/802 Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement.

Big hat, no cattle. This is a Texas put-down for someone who is all talk and no action with no substance of power behind their words. We see this as just another form of the Imposter Syndrome. Not only do we see this with leaders, but we see this now with entire organizations as well.  Here are some quotes on this very subject:“Trust in CEOs has plunged because it is seen as all hat and no cattle… The idea that we can talk and not do is over. The idea that we can have purpose through promises is over. Because it is going to require action to build trust.”—Richard Edelman, CEO, Edelman“Of the Fortune 100 companies, only 56 have actually articulated what can be called a purpose or a mission.” —Janeen Gelbart, CEO, IndiggoBoth of these quotes sum up what we discuss in this episode of Mainline Executive Coaching ACT. Thank you to all of our listeners in over 70 countries and 580 cities worldwide, we greatly appreciate your support! We truly hope that what we bring to our listeners will improve your ability as leaders.Leaders, Lead Well!Mainline Executive Coaching ACT has been recognized by FeedSpot as the top Executive Coaching Podcast based on thousands of podcasts on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers & freshness.https://blog.feedspot.com/executive_coaching_podcasts/Sign up for our newsletter:https://www.richbaronexecutivecoaching.com/contactDownload our document on the Hottest Item in Business Today.https://www.richbaronexecutivecoaching.com/resources2fbc974dRich Baron:rbaron@richbaronexecutivecoaching.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-baron/https://www.richbaronexecutivecoaching.com/Maikel Bailey:mbailey@intelligentleadershipec.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/maikelbailey/https://maikelbailey.com/

Wednesday's PRWeek Healthcare Conference + Awards in New York marked a new milestone for the brand: its first-ever live podcast — and it has guests worthy of the occasion. PRWeek editorial director Steve Barrett was joined on stage by Sally Susman, EVP and chief corporate affairs officer at Pfizer, who discussed her experiences working on communications during the COVID-19 vaccine, batting away disinformation and why comms is more of a hard skill than a soft skill.Joining Susman was Edelman CEO Richard Edelman, who discussed building healthcare expertise at an agency, winning over skeptics on issues such as vaccines and working with controversial clients.Plus a conversation between the two industry heavyweights on building consensus and taking on controversial political and social issues. Follow us on Twitter: @PRWeekUSReceive the latest industry news, insights, and special reports. Start Your Free 1-Month Trial Subscription To PRWeek

Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, sits down with Oscar Munoz, former CEO and Executive Chairman of United Airlines and author of “Turnaround Time,” to discuss Munoz's transformational tenure at the airline. He talks about changing the business from the inside out, dealing with personal challenges alongside financial challenges and advice for company leaders in an … Continue reading "Oscar Munoz on Investing in Employees to Earn Trust"

On this episode of the Executives' Exchange, we welcome Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman! He will discuss his journey working alongside family to leading an award-winning global public relations firm. We will also explore the findings of this year's Trust Barometer, his insights on for business leaders navigating the polarized world we live in, and how the Midwest ranks for trust.     00:00 – Intro 00:52 – Edelman details his Childhood01:33 – Richard discusses how he joined his family business02:32 – How it's like working with family04:37 – Edelman legacy as a company07:20 – How the Trust Barometer got started09:50 – Why business is the only trusted institution 14:23 – New leadership traits in business18:25 – First force of polarization: Economic Anxieties    19:24 – Second force of polarization: Mass Class Divide 22:04 – Message from our sponsors, Shure22:34 – Third force of polarization: Institution of Imbalances24:57 – Fourth polarization the battle for truth26:26 – What media sources are trusted27:40 – How the Midwest is the least trusting region29:30 – What is the path forward                                   34:17 – Surprises with the Trust Barometer 36:34 – Rapid fire questions 38:01 – Outro              Episode Link: Edelman | 2023 Trust Barometer   Host: Margaret Mueller, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Executives' Club of Chicago   Producer: Eva Penar, Chief Content & Communications Officer, The Executives' Club of Chicago      Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.       Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Shure Incorporated.   For nearly 100 years, Shure Incorporated has developed best-in-class audio products that provide high-quality performance, reliability and value. Headquartered in Niles, Illinois, our history of innovation and expertise in acoustics, wireless technology, and more enables us to deliver seamless, transparent audio experiences to a global audience. Our diverse product line includes world-class wired and wireless microphones, networked audio systems and signal processors, conferencing and discussion systems, software, a loudspeaker, and award-winning earphones and headphones.     Find Shure on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram  

We're taking a look back at some highlights from last year's Innovation Festival. Employees, customers, investors, and other stakeholders increasingly expect business leaders to engage on social issues. Tune in to Leadership Now Project Cofounder and CEO Daniella Ballou-Aares who joins Ashley Orgain, Chief Impact Officer of Seventh Generation and Edelman CEO Richard Edelman, as they explore the benefits and pitfalls of speaking out and the frameworks businesses and boards can use to smartly determine when and how to take a stand.

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks about Joe Rogan and Tim Dillon discussing how Rumble is becoming one of the best YouTube alternatives due to the level of censorship on other platforms; Trevor Noah lying to Joy Reid about the Joe Rogan Spotify controversy to smear him and Rumble; Bill Maher telling the audience of “Real Time with Bill Maher” that the source of all the bad woke ideas appears to be higher education and academia; Jonathan Haidt talking about the importance of viewpoint diversity at colleges; Bill Maher telling Matt Taibbi how Democrats are losing support since they no longer support bodily autonomy; public relations legend Richard Edelman telling the World Economic Forum why corporations must support social media boycotts to push their disinformation agenda; Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová threatening Elon Musk for not censoring Twitter more; Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm trying to backpedal on the Biden administration's gas stove ban plans; Rebel News' Ezra Levant asking John Kerry about his climate change hypocrisy at the World Economic Forum; Gavin Newsom's second amendment blindspot; Ron DeSantis debunking the media's lies about his banning of a specific AP African American history class; a former Google employee giving a Google office tour that makes it seem like an adult daycare facility; Bill Maher and Andrew Sullivan discussing the sudden normalization of trans kids, and much more. WATCH the MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE segment of the show here: https://rubinreport.locals.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

God is Truth. That is why the tools of censorship wielded by the criminal FBI/DHS/CDC and their partners in social media have not succeeded in stopping the truth. They can't fully stop it. Yet, they can push truth into the shadows and cover it with lies. That is their design, to hide reality from enough of the populace to make it possible for them to create false consent from people who don't know what they are giving up. Evil operates best in darkness and shrinks from the light: watch Klash Schwab--surrounded by security and handlers--flee in terror from a young, polite, independent Japanese journalist. At that same meeting, an EU technocrat named Věra Jourová lectured us--while giggling!--that hate speech laws will be imposed upon the American public. Despite their money, their earthly power (which is nothing to God), they are failing! Doctors are speaking up in a wave against their shots, parents refuse to give up their kid's souls. In 20203, our job, then, is to speak ever more loudly and clearly, with truth wrapped in grace. What does God say?We are told in the Ten Commandments to not lie. Throughout the Bible, we are directed to go a step further, to not remain silent but to speak truth. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”Ephesians 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,Ephesians 4:25 WHAT AN ENCOUNTER: Watch independent journalist from Japan relentlessly pursue @ProfKlausSchwab(Klaus Schwab) and navigate all his media handlers in the nicest way.WEF: United States Will Soon Make Hate Speech Illegal, Says EU CommissionerFBI Director [Read: The Capo of The Mob] Christopher Wray: "The level of collaboration between the private sector and the government, especially the FBI has made ... significant strides."Richard Edelman, CEO of the world's largest PR company tells businesses to “deprive [social media] platforms that spread disinformation of oxygen. Stop advertising. Pull your promotion money… The Twitter boycott has had a modest impact but the Facebook one failed.”Jacinda Ardern: "You Can Trust Us ... We Will Continue to Be Your Single Source of Truth" (July 2021)"Dismiss anything else. We will continue to be your single source of truth.""Everything else you see — a grain of salt.""Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth."The DeSantis blueprint for America - from Florida where the 'woke go to die': How Republican's war on Covid rules, Critical Race Theory and 'indoctrination' is laying the groundwork for a 2024 campaignFrom the brilliant Chris BrayAfter a Long Drive Toward a Dead End, We Have Reached It - "give me kids being preferentially killed or injured by this disease...."Play Long . . . and count no man happy until he is deadWe are winning! UK doctors are speaking out. It's so damaging to the narrative that even Twitter won't let post itTherefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

"The Shielding Approach" Hosts: Darren Weeks, Vicky Davis Website for the show: https://governamerica.com Vicky's Websites: https://thetechnocratictyranny.com and http://channelingreality.com COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AND CREDITS: https://governamerica.com/radio/radio-archives/22428-govern-america-august-14-2021-the-shielding-approach CDC outlines the building of "green zone" quarantine camps. U.S. government is openly warring against the People. Biden administration considers banning interstate travel for the unjabbed. Cuomo resigning is a distraction from real issues. To the technocrats, your body is a computer to be programmed; your cells and DNA are an operating system to be "upgraded". Technocrats are in control of the government and now they are coming together to declare what AI means for the future of your humanity. The World Economic Forum has a new "Millennial Manifesto" it is using to orchestrate and control "grass roots" activism through youth movements. WEF panel on "Shaping Empowered Data Societies". Richard Edelman worries people don't trust the media enough. Media programming is provably ruining society and mental health. What methods of propaganda are being used today? Highly-credentialed virologist who worked for Big Pharma and Bill and Melinda Gates' GAVI says the COVID stabbings are causing the variants. Totalitarianism around the world as Aussie health director now tells people not to talk to each other. French people boycott restaurants in defiance of COVID passports, and more.

New data suggests a lot of bloggers are employing practices that are the opposite of those that deliver results. Shel and Neville dive into the data from a new blogger survey. Also in this episode: Microsoft is bringing the DALL-E 2 AI graphic generator to Office 365 via a new app called Designer, as well as a tool called Image Creator that will be deployed through Bing and Microsoft Edge; virtual influencers, already a big deal in Asia, are making inroads in the US, performing in concerts, signing record deals, and pitching products for brands; Edelman's CEO, Richard Edelman has given an interview in which he outlines his vision for the future of PR and his company; the category of meme creators is heating up but a lot of these people aren't happy with Instagram's rules; a new Danish political party is being led by an Artificial Intelligence. In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on more digital services copying others, including yet another "stories" feature, this time on Signal; Facebook is dropping support for its Instant Articles mobile format amidst a decline in its support for news in general; meanwhile, TikTok is becoming more of a news source; and a volunteer opportunity awaits those interested in working with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center.Continue Reading → The post FIR #289: Bloggers, AI, and The Future of PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

New data suggests a lot of bloggers are employing practices that are the opposite of those that deliver results. Shel and Neville dive into the data from a new blogger survey. Also in this episode: Microsoft is bringing the DALL-E 2 AI graphic generator to Office 365 via a new app called Designer, as well as a tool called Image Creator that will be deployed through Bing and Microsoft Edge; virtual influencers, already a big deal in Asia, are making inroads in the US, performing in concerts, signing record deals, and pitching products for brands; Edelman's CEO, Richard Edelman has given an interview in which he outlines his vision for the future of PR and his company; the category of meme creators is heating up but a lot of these people aren't happy with Instagram's rules; a new Danish political party is being led by an Artificial Intelligence. In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on more digital services copying others, including yet another "stories" feature, this time on Signal; Facebook is dropping support for its Instant Articles mobile format amidst a decline in its support for news in general; meanwhile, TikTok is becoming more of a news source; and a volunteer opportunity awaits those interested in working with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center.Continue Reading → The post FIR #289: Bloggers, AI, and The Future of PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

About the Podcast The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today's special guest is Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. If the word “legend” applies to anyone at all in the world of public relations, it truly applies to Richard Edelman.  His agency has taken the world of public relations by storm during the past thirty or so years, and has led the way in growth, innovation, a vision for the future and extraordinary results for its long list of global clients.  Under Richard's leadership the agency now does more than one billion dollars a year in revenues, the first ever PR agency to do so. It has set the standard for the PR agency business and the bar is exceedingly high.  Richard is the son of Daniel J. Edelman who founded the firm in 1952.  Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013.  Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry.   About Our Guest Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm, and Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, the firm's holding company. Founded in 1952 by his father Dan, Edelman remains independent and family owned with more than 6,000 employees in 66 offices across 28 countries. The firm was named to Advertising Age's A-List in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2019 and was honored as “PR Agency of the Decade” by both Advertising Age and PRovoke. At the 2021 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Edelman became the first PR Agency to win a Grand Prix as lead agency in the Entertainment Lions for Sport and was named Independent Agency of the Year in the Entertainment Track. Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013. Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry. During that time, he's guided the firm's entry into Digital, Creative, Performance Marketing and Advisory. Under Richard's leadership, Edelman's revenue increased 11.5 times enabling it to become the largest communications firm in the world surpassing $1 billion in revenue. DJE Holdings' revenue increased 14 times during that same period making it the largest independent communications holding company. He also serves as Chair of Edelman's sister agency Zeno, which was named large agency of the year in 2021 and 2022 by PRWeek. Zeno employs 730+ people across 18 offices. Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs and family businesses. He has advised senior executives through significant disruptions within their organizations, including Samsung, Starbucks and United Airlines, and worked on the largest professional services merger in history of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. Richard works with numerous clients including Unilever, Dairy Management Inc. and Chobani. He has counseled countries in every region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media and NGOs. Now in its 22nd year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is widely recognized as the leading piece of research on trust with its cross-cultural insights regularly cited in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes and other media. The survey also informs academic studies on trust and provides insights to thought-leaders and opinion-shapers around the world. In 2022, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame, the first PR executive to ever earn this honor. In 2019, Richard was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publication's Hall of Fame; in 2014, Richard was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society's Hall of Fame; Advertising Age named him Agency Executive of the Year in 2008. Richard is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), the Atlantic Council, Project HOOD, P33, the Gettysburg Foundation, the 9/11 Museum and the National Committee on U.S. China Relations. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World Economic Forum and PR Seminar. Richard earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976. He and his wife Claudia live in New York City, and he has three daughters, Margot, Tory and Amanda.

About the Podcast The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today's special guest is Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. If the word “legend” applies to anyone at all in the world of public relations, it truly applies to Richard Edelman.  His agency has taken the world of public relations by storm during the past thirty or so years, and has led the way in growth, innovation, a vision for the future and extraordinary results for its long list of global clients.  Under Richard's leadership the agency now does more than one billion dollars a year in revenues, the first ever PR agency to do so. It has set the standard for the PR agency business and the bar is exceedingly high.  Richard is the son of Daniel J. Edelman who founded the firm in 1952.  Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013.  Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry.   About Our Guest Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm, and Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, the firm's holding company. Founded in 1952 by his father Dan, Edelman remains independent and family owned with more than 6,000 employees in 66 offices across 28 countries. The firm was named to Advertising Age's A-List in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2019 and was honored as “PR Agency of the Decade” by both Advertising Age and PRovoke. At the 2021 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Edelman became the first PR Agency to win a Grand Prix as lead agency in the Entertainment Lions for Sport and was named Independent Agency of the Year in the Entertainment Track. Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013. Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry. During that time, he's guided the firm's entry into Digital, Creative, Performance Marketing and Advisory. Under Richard's leadership, Edelman's revenue increased 11.5 times enabling it to become the largest communications firm in the world surpassing $1 billion in revenue. DJE Holdings' revenue increased 14 times during that same period making it the largest independent communications holding company. He also serves as Chair of Edelman's sister agency Zeno, which was named large agency of the year in 2021 and 2022 by PRWeek. Zeno employs 730+ people across 18 offices. Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs and family businesses. He has advised senior executives through significant disruptions within their organizations, including Samsung, Starbucks and United Airlines, and worked on the largest professional services merger in history of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. Richard works with numerous clients including Unilever, Dairy Management Inc. and Chobani. He has counseled countries in every region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media and NGOs. Now in its 22nd year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is widely recognized as the leading piece of research on trust with its cross-cultural insights regularly cited in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes and other media. The survey also informs academic studies on trust and provides insights to thought-leaders and opinion-shapers around the world. In 2022, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame...

Jackie Cooper, Chief Brand Officer, sits down with Edelman's CEO, Richard Edelman, at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. Jackie and Richard talk about Edelman's history at Cannes Lions and delve into the findings from the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: The New Cascade of Influence. “The confluence between corporate … Continue reading "Cannes Special Part 1: Richard Edelman on The New Cascade of Influence"

As the war in Ukraine continues, the world is responding not just with various government sanctions on Russia, but also with a voluntary exodus of private corporations from the Russian market. To discuss these "private sanctions" and possible motivations behind them, we invited Richard Edelman, the CEO of one of the largest public relations firms in the world. Are firms profit-maximizing in their actions? Are they responding to political or consumer pressure? Or are they simply trying to avoid a public relations nightmare? Furthermore, do these actions constitute a precedent to be followed in future conflicts?

This week, CEO Richard Edelman speaks with Frank Cooper III, Global Chief Marketing Officer of BlackRock, to unpack the findings of the recently released 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer Report. Among all institutions studied, business was revealed as the big trust winner of this year's report, while government and media were seen to be fueling a … Continue reading "The Growing Role of Business in Society in 2022 with BlackRock's Frank Cooper"

Richard Edelman, the brains behind the world's leading survey on trust in institutions, joins this week with a severe warning: trust is becoming heavily local, and democracies are experiencing a collapse of trust in government and media. Not only that — there's a sharp class divide: members of elite groups trust institutions more than ever, while distrust grows among the masses. CEOs are asked to step into this breach. There are also strategic consequences to these trust divides: we explore what happens when China trusts its domestic institutions, while Americans distrust their own institutions.

Edelman CEO, Richard Edelman, explains in a fireside chat at PR Asia 2021 why PR agencies and professionals should "fight back hard" against ad agencies and business consultancies. He also talks about the future of PR agencies in the age of the shrinking publisher landscape.

Here is The Guardian article, 'The Dirty Dozen: Meet America's Top Climate Villains" - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/27/climate-crisis-villains-americas-dirty-dozen

Richard Edelman, presidente y consejero delegado de la empresa Edelman, desarrolló un barómetro que muestra el nivel de confianza que los trabajadores tienen en sus líderes. En el estudio que ha realizado con información de 28 países, el promedio de confianza que los encuestados tienen en sus líderes ha sido de un 37 %, un 6 % menos que en 2015 y un 15 % menos respecto a 2011. En resumen, desde la crisis financiera en 2008, ha aumentado de forma nítida la falta de confianza que los trabajadores tienen en sus directivos.

Ben Inker, GMO Head of Asset Allocation, says value stocks have been “left behind” for no good economic reason. Bob Hormats, Tiedemann Advisors Managing Director, says we need stronger cooperation with India to help combat terrorist groups. Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO, discusses the rise of belief-driven employees. Roger Bootle, Capital Economics Founder & Chairman, explains why he's worried about the resurgence of inflation. James Athey, Aberdeen Standard Investments Senior Investment Manager, says the state of the economy is unstable. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ben Inker, GMO Head of Asset Allocation, says value stocks have been “left behind” for no good economic reason. Bob Hormats, Tiedemann Advisors Managing Director, says we need stronger cooperation with India to help combat terrorist groups. Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO, discusses the rise of belief-driven employees. Roger Bootle, Capital Economics Founder & Chairman, explains why he's worried about the resurgence of inflation. James Athey, Aberdeen Standard Investments Senior Investment Manager, says the state of the economy is unstable. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

"The Shielding Approach" Hosts: Darren Weeks, Vicky Davis Show website: https://governamerica.com Vicky's Websites: https://thetechnocratictyranny.com and http://channelingreality.com COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AND CREDITS AT: https://governamerica.com/radio/radio-archives/22428-govern-america-august-14-2021-the-shielding-approach Listen live on Saturdays at 11AM Eastern at http://radio.governamerica.com If you find value in the show, please return that value through your support at https://governamerica.com/donate ON THIS SHOW: CDC outlines the building of "green zone" quarantine camps. U.S. government is openly warring against the People. Biden administration considers banning interstate travel for the unjabbed. Cuomo resigning is a distraction from real issues. To the technocrats, your body is a computer to be programmed; your cells and DNA are an operating system to be "upgraded". Technocrats are in control of the government and now they are coming together to declare what AI means for the future of your humanity. The World Economic Forum has a new "Millennial Manifesto" it is using to orchestrate and control "grass roots" activism through youth movements. WEF panel on "Shaping Empowered Data Societies". Richard Edelman worries people don't trust the media enough. Media programming is provably ruining society and mental health. What methods of propaganda are being used today? Highly-credentialed virologist who worked for Big Pharma and Bill and Melinda Gates' GAVI says the COVID stabbings are causing the variants. Totalitarianism around the world as Aussie health director now tells people not to talk to each other. French people boycott restaurants in defiance of COVID passports, and more.

Can you hear me  now Podcast  Episode 2: REFERENCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/collapsing-levels-trust-are-devastating-america/616581/https://time.com/5929252/edelman-trust-barometer-2021/https://knightfoundation.org/articles/restoring-trust-in-a-polarized-age/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/disinformation-conspiracy-theories-inoculation-edelman-corporate-america-1132325/https://www.theharbingergroup.com/https://www.rj47llc.com/https://argyleprusa.com/about-us/leadership-team/harlan-loeb/Rob Johnson (00:19):Welcome everyone to episode two of the "Can You Hear Me" podcast, I'm Rob Johnson, former Chicago TV news anchor and now President of the communications consulting firm, Rob Johnson Communications.Eileen Rochford (00:32):And I'm Eileen Rochford CEO of marketing strategy and public relations firm The Harbinger Group. We created "Can You Hear Me" because we both have a passion for communications and I mean really good communications, but we saw a growing need for C-Suite level leadership and other executives to frankly, just be better at it. And so that's why we're here with you today. And we will be joined by a man who knows all about this, former Edelman global crisis and risk lead Harlan Loeb. He's now senior managing director at Argyle USA. Harlan's a recognized expert in crisis and reputational risk management. He has extensive experience in global crisis preparedness, He has developed a reputational risk resilience model for corporate officers and their boards, has worked across nearly every industry sector in existence, representing clients such as Dow Chemical Company, Kraft GE Healthcare, Harley Davidson, CME group, Mitsubishi Corporation and SC Johnson among many, many more is licensed to the Bar in Illinois and Wisconsin.Eileen Rochford (01:37):He's practiced law with Godfrey & Kahn. And then as Regional Counsel for the ADL, he's also a professor of Crisis Litigation & The Court of Public Opinion at Northwestern University Law School and a lecture in Ford scholar at the Kellogg school of management. Finally, I'll just say, Harlan is someone for whom I have the utmost respect, not only for his incredible intellect and vast knowledge of everything reputation, but also for his character. And his decency is truly just one of my very favorite people. Someone I admire deeply, and I continue to learn from to this day. I'm thrilled that he's here today with us, Rob, really excited.Rob Johnson (02:12):We're very lucky to have you Harlan and it's great to be with you. So here's a question for you. Who do you trust? Or more directly, who don't you trust? The erosion of trust in our institutions isn't a recent occurrence. It's been trending slowly in this direction for a very long time. The issue is that public trust is eroded in our social institutions, such as government, business, non-government organizations, NGOs, and the media. In fact, the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, a study published annually by global communications firm Edelman, unveiled its findings recently after conducting more than 33,000 online surveys in 28 countries between October and November of 2020.Eileen Rochford (02:53):I gotta say Rob, the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer findings scared the crap out of me, totally, totally honestly, to quote this report, the findings reveal, "A new era of information bankruptcy and a trust ecosystem fund able to confront it." and further it says "In the United States, 57% of us believe our country is in the midst of a cold civil war." It's also worth noting here that our trust meaning us as Americans of our own us government dropped another five points just between May 2020 and January 2021 from what was already ridiculously low level. So this is bad. I mean really bad. And here's why- when people in a society lose trust in their institutions and in each other, the nation collapses. So what we're discussing today is of the utmost importance to every one of us at every company, institution, organization, person, it's incredibly important. I just want to add, um, to put a fine point on it that the CEO of Edelman, Richard Edelman, he wrote this essay that accompanied the release of their 2020 report. And here's how he put it. "The urgent issues confronting society require a knowledgeable public able to make choices based on unbiased information- not fear, compulsion or conspiracy theories. Every institution must play its part in restoring facts to their rightful place at the center of public discourse as the essential step to emerging from information of bankruptcy." So that really puts that fine point on the severity of this current state of affairs.Rob Johnson (04:36):No, and you can see that it's just trending in the wrong direction. Now, before we dive deeper, let's define two terms that you may hear and have heard frequently, misinformation and disinformation. According to dictionary.com, misinformation is false information that is spread regardless of intent to mislead. So you may do it unintentionally, but you still don't mislead people. Today misinformation spreads very easily. Thanks to technology, of course, on social media users have shared story after story, without checking if they were true and many times, they are not true. Misinformation was dictionary.com's word of the year back in 2018. Misinformation was top of mind that year with governments, businesses and the broader culture grappling with how to stop dangerous misinformation, which then can become disinformation highly.Eileen Rochford (05:22):And disinformation is defined by dictionary.com is "false information in a hostile act of tactical political subversion." It is also used more generally to mean "deliberately misleading or biased information, manipulated narrative or facts or propaganda." So disinformation is knowingly spreading misinformation. So I think this is a perfect time to bring in my longtime friend and corporate communications expert, Mr. Harlan Loeb. Harlan, thank you for joining us today.Harlan Loeb (05:58):Thank you for having me. I am honored and humbled, and I'm also, I'm also a bit of a refugee of the trust barometer having been at Edelman for 11 years working on that, and it seemed like the news kept getting more challenging to use it, to put it deeper mystical.Eileen Rochford (06:16):I can only imagine. I mean, you've been at the heart of this, uh, data collection and analysis for a long, long time, and now you're with Argyle, but you're still seeing the data come out. I'm sure it's very concerning to you as it is to the rest of us. And I want to ask, Harlan, I'm sure you've seen this whole thing kind of coming down the pike over the past decade or more. Can you tell us from your perspective what's driving these sometimes massive disinformation campaigns and really how does all of that affect trust and distrust?Harlan Loeb (06:51):Sure. So, uh, yeah, it's been in the works for quite quite a long time and I use this phrase a lot, so I'll just tee it up now. And that is the erosion of the sanctity of facts. Um, facts now are, are optional and, um, you can create your own facts set with whatever tropes you feel, uh, convey your message or convey your anger or convey whatever the sentiment and emotion of the day might be. Uh, so it's, it's been good. It's been in the works for quite some time and it well predates, um, it well predates two presidencies actually. So as I, as I look at it or I start thinking about it, the, the, if you remember the movie and both of you might be too young to remember the movie, um, "Good Morning, Vietnam," in which Robin Williams...Rob Johnson (07:43):We're not that young, we're not that young. It's a great movie, great movie.Harlan Loeb (07:48):...It is an excellent movie. And if you remember, you know, obviously, uh, Robin Williams is this dynamic, uh, morning host for, for the military. And he has, if you look in the background these two, and I think they, they almost in my, my mind as I look kind of traced back in my mind, it looked like they were twins, but the fact checkers that were kind of sitting in another room and kept X-ing out what he wanted to say. So most of what he had to say was censured and, and scripted by the military so that the Vietnam war was portrayed in exactly the terms that the generals wanted to convey. And I think that that's where we, where we are right now is that we have somebody on high in many different ways is kind of scripting the narrative and instead of being one person, it's everybody.Harlan Loeb (08:39):And so as I look at, um, the social crisis really, that has unknown dimension now and is, has, this has consequences, the rampant kind of polarization and native populism completely really it erodes any, any notion of the sanctity of facts. Um, as you, as you well know, the social media, the deep web has profoundly divided this country. Social media is from the data that I've looked at the largest source, not only of misinformation and disinformation, but of, of pick your own facts and the addiction that we, many of us have, if not all of us, have to the web and to the kinds of things that we look at and so forth really in, in known and unknown ways is really changing our brain chemistry. And that for me is extraordinarily, uh, extraordinarily frightening. Um, and as I said, the, you know, the populous narratives really, they well proceed.Harlan Loeb (09:43):Our most recent president certainly aided and abetted the proliferation of exactly what we're talking about. Um, but as we've been talking about, it was 10 years in the making. And so as we look at our societal institutions, even the military, which has historically been the most trusted entity that we have is down considerably in trust. Um, and other institutions, the Supreme court, for example, is still a trusted entity on the higher end of, of the data on trust, but it's still down 23% last I checked from where it was at it's high. So we're just in a profoundly distrusting society. And as we'll talk about, look, you know, looking at the avenues for change, I think will, is incumbent upon all of us, particularly the United States, uh, and it's possible, it's within reach because I believe the majority of Americans are just kind of watching what's happening, but, but believe in the sanctity of facts and believe in civil society, but are just don't know where to go and how to activate. So I do think that there is hope, um, particularly in light of shows like this and the opportunity to discuss exactly these challenges that we're confronting that seem insurmountable. I do believe that there's hope.Rob Johnson (11:00):That's good to hear. And you've heard us define a couple of terms already. We also want to define mistrust and distrust, which are basically synonyms with similar meanings. We mentioned a minute ago about the erosion of trust and social institutions, such as government, business, NGOs, and the media. Let's focus on business here, and Harlan, what are the implications of distrust on businesses? How can it hurt their bottom line?Harlan Loeb (11:26):I, in some cases, companies that are profoundly distrusted, there's a kind of what I would call private activism. There's there's, there's individuals and organizations and population sets that will, um, look for the alternative. So if you're, let's say you're looking at big box shopping, and if you profoundly distrust, I don't want to say the name of a company, but I will, if he profoundly distrust Safeway, um, he may go to Walmart. So they, they look at, so if there's an option, obviously they'll pivot. Um, if there's an option and it's no more expensive and they'll make, they'll make a pivot. Um, what I see happening is consumers in particular, what I would call transactional trust. They trust the specific, uh, transaction or encounter that they're, that they're involved in. So for example, if they're investing in Pfizer stock, which has been doing well lately, given COVID, um, if the investment buys the stock, they don't really need to trust Pfizer.Harlan Loeb (12:40):They trust in the stock price. And so it's a transactional trust, which is fragile because as soon as stock goes down, they become concerned. All the Pfizer's has done very well. So I do think that there's transactional trust amongst, um, largely US, uh, and beyond, but the US, um, the US in the context of, of how, and in what ways do they still have trust. But again, as I say, it's a transactional trust, which I think is fragile, and they don't really need to pay attention to some of the hiccups in the road that many of these companies have had. Um, and what winds up happening. And this is where I think the trust and distrust collides. And I'm sure you guys, I'm certain, you guys are familiar with Purdue Pharma and all their histrionics that have going on there. So if you look at Purdue Pharma, they were making billions of dollars, essentially creating opioid addiction, um, which I see as a vivid example of the sources of distrust, which is OxycontinHarlan Loeb (13:44):And some of these, these, these, these opioids are necessary and people depend on them, but when you begin to exploit it for, for, uh, material gain and you begin to, to engage in distrust and mistrust campaigns, which they certainly did, um, you're really aiding and abetting an addiction to opioids. But where, where distrust is created across, you know, we're distressed is created, um, or mistrust both, is there filling bankruptcy and absolving themselves of any penalties and protracted litigation. They have privileges these big, large companies that are larger than life have privileges in many ways, granted to them by our Congress and Senate and, and, and political leaders to engage in those kinds of things where kind of the average companies can't. Um, so you have government abled, privileges and loopholes that the rest of our society doesn't have, which is aiding and abetting, as I've said, and contributing it's seriously to distrust because there's, it's, it's not a level playing field. Um, and so, so as you look at those that example, and it's just one of many, our largest institutions, which are the backbone of at least our, our financial system, um, are played by special rules and, and, you know, live in a neighborhood that only 5% of us can ever get, can ever touch.Eileen Rochford (15:17):So that's, that's a really interesting observation Harlan. Um, you're starting to tell me more about the next thing that I wanted to ask you, which really is specifically about barriers to trust right now, in this day and age, kind of across the board, you know, building off of the facts and figures we shared, um, from the Edelman Trust Barometer about why people were less trusting as institutions you're starting to get at that, um, the actual barriers. Can you tell us about other barriers similar to the two that you've cited thus far? This is a very big topic, I think that there, there have to be additional barriers.Harlan Loeb (15:57):It's a great question. And when I think about all the time and I keep re-litigating what the right answer or, or on-ramp is. So I do think it's, yeah, it's about barriers, but it's also about the lack of greater social connectedness and durable structures for our kind of social engagement and social life. So for example, we'd have little, you know, like, uh, I don't want to say, mini communities, you know, family, friends, uh, you know, a circle of trust because of our, our we're, we're social by design as human beings. And so we have those communities and we have those relationships. So for example, um, if you look at business, you know, the Starbucks near me, there's an affinity that I have and that we all have for wherever are, and I know Rob, you don't drink coffee, but you can get their other options.Harlan Loeb (16:51):Um, the, uh, we have there's affinity plays all over the place. You see affinity for companies, for the people that work at a particular company. So I do think that there's hope in terms of connectedness, in what I would say, community level, uh, associations with business, you know, community connectedness with the Jewel that we have two blocks away and the people that work there. So I do think that there is connectedness and reason for hope as it relates to what I would say, mini community, um, structures, business structures, social structures, and so forth, where we have abandoned our, uh, our, our way and given shape, um, to the populists, to the, to the, to those that have their own agenda. Um, I, that continues to be disturbing, but where I see hope and where I see where I see, um, and we experienced it, you know, in client relationships and all kinds of, uh, all kinds of connectedness, whether it's clients, whether it's a social activity, whether it's, whatever it is, there are people by design, crave, concrete, meaning person, purpose, and identity, um, both individually and collectively.Harlan Loeb (18:17):So I do think that we do see that, um, what I'm in this, I'm a big fan of David Brooks. So I, I cite him often, um, what David Brooks has said and, and said, well, I think is that American life is really an open space and a, not an, a space not filled with individuals, um, if we're in it, and if we're failing to foster belonging, legitimacy, and trust what we are, what we're confronting as a failure in our largest institutions. Um, and if you look at that, and this is where I think one of the largest sources, if not the largest source of not only misinformation and arguably disinformation, but the biggest source of mortgaged trust, profoundly mortgaged trust, is our Congress, candidly, because they're using their bully pulpits to, uh, really play out in, in, on candid camera, if you will rub their, uh, frustrations of the, of their core constituencies.Harlan Loeb (19:20):Instead of working through the institutions, they use their platforms really to raise the profiles, um, in an are what I would consider an are out of control culture, and it just feeds the beast. And I think that is amongst the most dangerous sources of distrust that we have is just a Congress and a government that is profoundly distrusted, and mistrusted, um, yet people are consuming what it is that these particularly with a very divided Congress and Senate, um, they're, they're putting out tropes that are just feeding, uh, anger and populism. And if you can be angry, you must be angry. If you can't be outraged, you must be outraged. I mean that's, I think, one of the largest sources of distrust, and I do think what, where we're going to need Eileen to kind of roll back is to say, okay, let's localize this let's localize. If we begin to kind of put, put the dots on a map or put together an X, Y grid, if you localize, you'll see promise for sure.Rob Johnson (20:25):Well, and I think you're giving people the red meat that they want. And you're, um, while you're sitting here talking about all the problems and the problems are many, I'm glad that we're sitting here also trying to come up with solutions as well. For those of you who aren't sure what you're listening to, this is the, "Can You Hear Me?" podcast, Rob Johnson, Eileen Rochford and our special guest today, Harlan Loeb, thrilled to have him along. So I think everybody's becoming more familiar, especially those in the C-suite and leadership positions about the term ESG, which is Environmental Social Governance, which are a set of standards for a company's operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. Now it's basically investing in companies that are doing good in and for society. So, how focused, Harlan, should companies be on this now? It's a thing. And how tripped up can a company get if it's walking the walk, but it's not, it's talking the talk, but it's not walking the walk?Harlan Loeb (21:20):Excellent question. Um, so ESG, as I understand, it really started out as kind of an investment structure, a wall street framework, uh, for investing, um, query, whether there was, you know, bottom-up, top-down and side-to-side, really commitment and reshaping the way in which social governance, um, is constructed and construed. And I, and I do think that we're still in the state of kind of a toggle between those that really say, you know, this is the opportunity where we need to be servant leaders, and this is the opportunity and the framework to do that. And then I think there are others, particularly in the financial services space where their, their governance, if you will, their governance, um, standards and their governance commitments are rock solid. But if you look at, at, at, at retail or consumer, really, truly consumer focused and entities and others, most of them really struggle with governance and have the social part down pretty well.Harlan Loeb (22:28):And the environmental part, at least in what they say down pretty well. Um, and so for, uh, a concept or a framework, I should say that was really conceived as a capital markets play, um, it does hold, I think, considerable potential for boards and leadership teams to define themselves. It gives boards and leadership teams and the opportunity to take this and define purpose, uh, which is a struggle for many companies. If they say, well, what are you, what is your purpose? Why do you exist? What are you doing that has purpose? What is your social good? Um, many can say, you know, for example, we talked about Pfizer, they're providing absolutely profoundly necessary, uh, vaccines and saving lives and saving, and thankfully in the wake of COVID, uh, COVIDs erosion, uh, we are the beneficiaries of a lifesaving, lifesaving, uh, vaccine, you know, on the other hand, what are that social good?Harlan Loeb (23:30):That is social purpose, but what else, what other accountabilities are there in the SG framework? So I think companies are really grappling with it. And it depends, as we say, in the law, you take your planets where you find them. Um, I think some companies are, are many, in fact, one we're working with right now are really struggling, are they are, they're walking to use your phrase, Rob they're walking and talking at the same time, but not sure which is which. Um, and so I think for particularly in financial services, they're still struggling to define purpose because of the transactional nature of many financial service firms, um, and banks that would include in that. So I think we're on the right path. I, I don't think there's sufficient clarity, and I think everybody's looking for this, and it's trying to find who, who has clarity, who is the genie in the bottle that we need to pull out to help us really define an animate, what each of the E S and G mean in each of their silos individually and collectively what they mean and define that, and to help companies find their, find their Klieg light to direct them in the ways in which they need to go in order to, to really create an ESG plan.Harlan Loeb (24:51):That's not the investment based. The only, that is really that helps them define who they are as companies and create identity in ways, uh, which I think are absolutely critical.Eileen Rochford (25:03):I'm curious, Harlan, is there an example that you could give us maybe of a company or an institution that has, or have good ESG intentions, but poor execution and that the execution that was so poor reputationally?Harlan Loeb (25:22):Um, so again, there's a number I'm trying to avoid clients here. Um...Rob Johnson (25:30):So many clients who he has to take a while to like, okay, I don't want to go down the list there.Harlan Loeb (25:35):...there, there, there are two right now that are just struggling. They're just, they're kind of like, I don't know, I'll use the expression, "They can't find their Fanny with two hands on this." They've got one, the governance part down, then I'll use this unbelievable ironclad in governance. They've, it's an Illinois based company just to keep us in the same jurisdiction. Um, it's an Illinois based company, a wonder couple company that very few people have heard of. They don't have any real presence online. They don't there, there's just there's, so they're, they're very good at, on the governance trump, because they know it well. And they're transactionally minded. They have no idea what ENS mean and literally not. And we're, thankfully we have experts in the space, uh, here in the US and in Canada. Um, the woman in Canada is actually grew up in Baltimore.Harlan Loeb (26:27):So she has insights on both sides of the fence and they're struggling. They just, they've never had a construct like this. There's, there's no context for them in the E and the S park. And until recently, when they were, when, um, they were asked, the question is whether or not they would underwrite drilling in the Arctic and in Alaska where they, and they, they, they, they weren't, no one was taking out policies or anything like that. But the question, the open question was, and it's obviously a contentious question- would you support even profoundly necessary drilling, um, fuel up near Alaska and in the Antarctic? And they didn't know how to answer the question because they had no framework in the E and the S part to have a context for what defines, how they vet that question. And so we've been working with them to try to, for now, they, because they're not, they're not underwriting that.Harlan Loeb (27:27):And they're, they're not have been asked to they're, they're able to take, put out what I would say, a fairly prosaic holding statement, but it's something they need to grapple with. And we keep pushing them. You've got a great opportunity here because you're not on the hot seat just yet to, to, to begin to create a framework for answering that question, answering the question as to, what are, what are your guardrails for financing and, and issuing policies on those kinds of things? And it's been, uh, it's been fascinating cause they they'll engage with us, but then they get a bit overwhelmed and they kind of pushed back. And this, I say with all, all affinity for lawyers, it's being run by their general counsel, the general counsel is running, which tells you everything you need to know. And a wonderful lawyer. It has nothing to do with that is running the ESG program.Harlan Loeb (28:18):It shouldn't, that's, that's fine to have the lawyer involved, but they need the people with the social, you know, the social intuition, which many financial firms just don't have. There's just, that's just not in the DNA historically financial services. So it's, it's, it's a great opportunity for them because they're one of the more successful companies that no one's ever heard of. Their investors, uh, you know, that the investors are huge, you know, at State Street it's, um, Mr. Fink's Farm, I'm forgetting the huge firm in New York. Um, they've got almost half of their, of their shares are held by huge, huge companies like State Street and Vanguard and it'll come to me in a second company and all of them very committed to ESG, but reasons unknown, I mean, they all are playing in the SG space, particularly Mr. Fink, but query what it actually means.Rob Johnson (29:17):Well I think you bring up a great point, Harlan, because, um, I know when I'm giving advice to some of my clients and they're letting the, everything, I would always say bounce that off the lawyers. That's the smartest thing that doesn't mean let the lawyers run the whole show because, um, their sensibilities and the sensibilities of people, other people in the C-suite, um, are, are not always aligned. They're partially aligned, but they're not always aligned. So let's make sure we differentiate between handling a crisis of a company's making and reputational resilience, which would be in part weathering a disinformation storm that would be out there. So, Harlan, what does CEO need to be thinking about when it comes to these? (Loeb): Just information storm? (Johnson): Yeah. Well also, I mean, listen, I was sort of differentiating between, okay, you have a crisis, you have to deal with it. That's one thing. And, and it, it happened because of something at the company. And then there is what other people are saying about you that may not be true. The disinformation storm that you just referenced, how does a CEO, how does a leader deal with that?Harlan Loeb (30:23):Carefully. Um, carefully and constructively. I, um, yeah, so, right, exactly. And it's a good point. I mean, so I think the, the disinformation or misinformation, usually if they're doing, if they're, they should be the first and hopefully our many companies are the first to see kind of the, the, the, um, I guess the, the embers, you know, those are the kind of dull flame that's kind of growing. They they're the monitoring, the analytics, the kinds of things that companies are, are, are using now. And it's becoming far more affordable and far better on analytics. They all see it. They see, they see those kinds of things. Assuming that they're not the source of it themselves, which creates, that's a whole other question. And it's, unfortunately there's a lot going on in that space too, but they see it well before anybody else does. So they see kind of the, the, the, uh, the fuse kind of being lit.Harlan Loeb (31:35):And so I always say servant leadership, transparency, candor, and proactive engagement, particularly on bad news. And I, again, I use a litigation, uh, litigation context for that. If you're, if you're in litigation and you have the opportunity to speak first, and there is really bad news, there is, there is a, it kind of a, uh, a cancerous part of your, of your case, define it on your terms. Get it out there on your terms and define it, take the, you know, take the oxygen out of the issue, not entirely, but frame it in your terms. So if, make it clear to the, you know, to the, make it clear to the jury, make it clear in your, your early pleadings. Uh, this is a lot of lawyers just supposed to be afraid to do this, but the good ones aren't because the good, the good, good lawyers are really strategists and not will.Harlan Loeb (32:33):And lawyer second, strategist first, and they're outstanding. So define the issues on terms as best you can. So those companies just are afraid to do that because most CEOs- boards are a little different now- but most chairman and CEOs are absolutely petrified of the unknown. They crave predictability and certainty with such a, it's almost like your nails going into like, you know, going into rod iron. And so what we've pushed companies to do over and over again, we've had greater success, ironically, as everything is known, no matter what. So you might need to get out there because it's going to get out there. So servant leadership, transparency, accountability, define your issues. You know, as we say, in the law, candor to the tribunal, own your mistakes, um, and provide clarity and direction of what you're going to do. Here's what, and I think if you look at, um, United Airlines and I worked on this with a big team for in the early days when the, if you recall, and it was covered, sure Rob, you covered this,Harlan Loeb (33:40):But, um, when United Airlines on one of the flights out of Chicago had to exit a passenger who did not take well to being exited, uh, and the situation was not handled as nicely as it can. And United out of the gate, unintended, um, out of the gate, didn't handle it well. They didn't, it didn't get to Oscar Munoz quickly enough. It was handled by somebody lower in the ranks and they, they had an opportunity to own a mistake and they absolutely blew it. They then owned it in ways in which, um, servant leadership operates at its best where Oscar just owned it. And unfortunately had a heart attack in the middle of it all, uh, or a hard episode in, uh, and, uh, that's when I got involved, but over the, over the year, year and a half United just turned it around, turned it around, completely owned their mistakes, uh, were completely profoundly candid, um, and their performance up until up until COVID for all airlines, but their, and their performance, their performance and, and reputation went up.Harlan Loeb (34:48):I mean, it was down obviously in the wake of that, but it was, it went up higher than it was before the, before the, uh, passenger exiting. So if, if you can begin to operate and kind of owning your mistakes, don't hide behind the lawyers. Don't do any of those kinds of things, own your mistakes. You're, you're to build trust, you have to own your issues and, and own your, your challenges and be very clear and transparent about it and interact with most companies again, and their leaders are petrified because they lose control when they do that.Eileen Rochford (35:19):So, Harlan, I'm really curious, um, they're talking about responding how a company can respond well, when confronted with a situation that obviously they were not prepared for at all. Um, but absent to that in a normal course of business, what should companies be doing to kind of fill their trust bank and build reputational resilience in this current environment? What advice do you have on that?Harlan Loeb (35:46):Ask the right questions, look at your stakeholders set, both, you know, full stakeholder set. And again, for each company, it's a different nuance stakeholders means a lot of things, in a lot of different ways, but ask to engage with your, engage with your audiences, engage with your stakeholders before they, they seek you out. Um, so for example, we were talking about ESG. You know, if you were to look at that, what do they think? You know, how do it, what do they think about and whether it could be shareholders, it could be your top shareholders. Uh, what do you think about ESG? What do you think about our approach? How are we integrating strategy with risk? Is it, is this working? What do you think? Um, and not just the board, don't just rely on the board. Um, you'd look at you, look at, um, does it come, and this is really hard for companies and this there's a lot of data on this.Harlan Loeb (36:43):So as a side note, almost every company I know if it's doing well is in some form of transformation. Most companies don't recognize early enough that transformation, constant transformation is the, this is just the way in which our, our capital markets and, and most, I would even say small cap on up companies have to look at the world and have to look at the changing dynamics of everything we've talked about and more of our operating environment. So engaging with those that who really give you license and enable your existence and enable your profitability, enable your, um, brand value and your brand profile, what are the, what are they thinking and what, what can they contribute to your transformation, uh, efforts? And so I think I don't, I don't think companies do a particularly, shouldn't say company, most companies don't do a particularly good job of, of surveying if you will, their constituents to get a sense that nailed is of good of good governance in, in Washington, to get a sense of what their constituents think and what they need and where their sentiments are and so forth.Harlan Loeb (37:55):So I, that's where I think companies have to engage as citizens, if you will, as citizens, coast citizens, well, with our, you know, with our citizenry. And, um, and I just don't see that happening with this, with the dimension and kind of connectedness that needs to happen. And the irony of it all is given all the instability, the distrust, all the things that we're, we're encountering right now. And the, if you can be outraged, you must be outraged. And there's no, there's no side, but my side. Now is the time for companies to begin to engage and take, you know, and kind of, um, dial down the anger, Geiger counter. Um, so I do think we see, you know, we see good, good CEOs do that. Good CEOs, not only talk to their board, but good CEOs and Oscar Munoz used to do that, will show up at the airport and ask passengers how they're feeling about United and tell them I don't, I'm literally using the word, you know, BS out loud. I don't want that. I want you to tell me how you, what your experience has been. It's what he did in the wake of, uh, United issue.Rob Johnson (39:05):I'm glad you're bringing it up Harlan because, you know, the United thing was very high profile. And I think a lot of people, not only in the media, but also communications professionals were sitting there thinking, why did it take them so long to get it right? Because once they got it right, to your point, it was like, that's the way you're supposed to do it. But on the front end, they're a big corporation, which leads me sort of to my next question here. And I'm not trying to make this sound self-serving for all of us to, you know, this is not, this podcast is not an exercise in business development. It's an exercise in sort of learning best practices, but I've found and I'm sure Eileen and Harlan you've found as well, that there's a challenge, getting people and companies to be self-aware enough to understand that they need this help. They're so focused on the bottom line sometimes. And here's what we need it's right in front of me, sometimes this need, isn't something that's, you know, um, right on their plate necessarily. It should be. So how do you get these companies to understand that in this day and age, especially with social media, especially with disinformation and misinformation, that this should be a priority for company X?Rob Johnson (40:17):I think it, it, it kind ofHarlan Loeb (40:21):Kind of hearkens back to what I was saying a bit earlier, I think, and eager to get your thoughts. I, I, again, I think it, it, it, it's kind of the shoe leather campaign. You know, I remember when I, I spent two years before going to law school, I'm sorry, year and a half before I went to law school, working on a campaign for a, um, a congressmen in Milwaukee that was running for US Senate. I wound up backing out when Herb Cole got into the race and he could outspend him by five, 10 fold. Um, and I just watched how he engaged. He didn't, he didn't believe in opportunity cost. He believed that if he could show up to a, uh, a, um, an event in pick a pick a place in Wisconsin, uh, like in Racine, thank you. That was very close.Harlan Loeb (41:13):I was thinking of the ones way up north in Wisconsin. He could, we could be in Racine, Wisconsin for the event of, uh, some organization. And then at the same time, drive up to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to be, to be with, um, Obey in, uh, Congressman Obey the next day or the next or that evening. So he didn't really know the definition of opportunity costs. So I, I look at companies, I don't care what size they are and how, how well they think they're doing and how ivory tower the chairman or CEO might find themselves, um, humility and engagement with your stakeholders. Because if, because of the point I made earlier, because we're in a constantly transforming society now, more than ever, because it's very difficult to get a sense of where your constituents are in any moment because it's fluid and it has increasingly fluid and skeptical and so forth.Harlan Loeb (42:09):But creating that kind of connectivity is essential. It's absolutely essential, no matter how big you are, because all it takes is a kind of Purdue Pharma type bad, uh, bet or, or thinking that they're larger, you know, larger than life, which a lot of these, a lot of these institutions unfortunately do either willingly or not is to get a sense of what your, your core constituents want and how it's fluid and what's changing. And again, I don't, I don't know that leadership teams are equipped to do that. They don't know who who's the person who does that and how do they do it, which seems very kind of basic. But I do think that there's, there's, we're always talking about, depending on what the crisis of our crisis of the decade is, is are these new, I remember, you know, new governance structures or, um, when Me Too hit they were starting.Harlan Loeb (43:05):And I did a ton of work in the Me Too space, bringing on new people in companies to deal with those kinds of things. So every time there was a bit of an issue, there's somebody who comes in as kind of the tsar of that challenge or risk, instead of looking more holistically at what, you know, what, what, and where are the opportunities and where are, where are we falling short? And it just, I think they've outgrown or they feel that they have outgrown any sense of kind of interconnectedness and, and engagement. And I think that's profoundly dangerous. It's going on forever, but now it's really, it's, there's a real referendum in play right now because you can't trust, and it goes back to where we started almost all societal institutions at this part at this point. So make it personal.Rob Johnson (43:53):Well that's, this is great stuff, Harlan, and we can't thank you enough. I mean, we've gotten into misinformation, disinformation, mistrust, distrust, reputational resilience, ESG, a lot of topics that we've talked about today. Are there, are there any final thoughts that you have, um, as we wrap this thing up today?Harlan Loeb (44:12):And I've been blessed and yet the two of you are part of this to have people, um, to know almost everybody I want to say everybody I know, but most of the people with whom I engage and I'm certain, it's true for the both of you, really believe in purpose, really believe in the sanctity of fast and the sanctity, of, of integrity and the sanctity of purpose. And I think the majority of Americans live their lives, whether it's sounded from a religious perspective or social perspective in principal directed ways. Uh, I think our government has done us a great disservice, but our communities for the most part, despite what's going on in neighborhoods with shootings and so forth. But the majority and people are taking positions on that. The majority of us are well-intended, want to live wholesome fulsome lives and are committed to purpose, integrity, and doing the right thing. Where we're falling short is how do we, how do we in this age of, and this is the irony, the age of greater connectivity to everything than we've ever had, we've been profoundly distracted by that connectivity because it's not the right form of connectivity.Harlan Loeb (45:25):It's, it's transactional connectivity, it's momentary connectivity. It's like that. And I don't even know my kids use it where you can type something out and it disappears within 30 seconds. So nobody can trace it. We live in that world and I, but I do think Snapchat. Thank you. Um, so I do think that we need to, we kind of got to dig down and build community kind of, as I say locally, because I do think that we'll, we can get beyond this, but it will take a lot of effort, hold Congress today, you know, hold Congress accountable and to hold other institutions that are just going outside the lines, if you will, um, to hold them accountable- you can't laugh. In my mind, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy to avoid litigation and to avoid accountability. Somebody has got to step in there and say, no, that's not happening. We're not going to allow it. That's not a, that's not a democratic society. That's not as civil society that allows a big company like that, that's made billions at the expense of a lot of people who've died from overdosing on opioids. That's not accountability. That's, that's arguably criminal behavior.Eileen Rochford (46:41):Well, I appreciate and applaud your glass half full perspective here and agree with you that we can dig deep here. Um, and there's, um, a brighter future ahead, but we all have to work together, like totally agree with you. And thank you for that perspective Harlan.Harlan Loeb (47:01):I think we have to believe in people and I don't know what choice we have and there in my life, I've been blessed and I'm certain you have to most of the people I know are people of integrity and purpose and conviction. And, and while we're all trying to delete lives in a very, very busy, disconnected environment, I think as we look at our kind of local institutions, whether they're religious or social, or, uh, educational professional circles, there's a lot of psychic income out there. A lot of, as my dad used to say, psychic income out there to keep us encouraged and keep us focused on, on those that are doing the right thing. Those are kind of that think and engage in ways that we're used to. I think it's a profound minority of our public that's driving, it always is, that is driving much like Europe in the, you know, in the 1930s and 40s, a very small public it's driving everything. And we need to address that.Eileen Rochford (48:05):Yes, we absolutely do. Well, thank you. This has been an extraordinary discussion on what I think all of us agree is this vital topic for C-suite executives and business leaders. They need to consider all of this when it comes to managing their companies through this really new set of value propositions that, um, have profound implications for all of us and for every organization. I'm Eileen Rochford, CEO of The Harbinger Group. Thanks for joining us for another episode of "Can You Hear Me?"Rob Johnson (48:36):And I'm Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson communications. Coming up on the next episode of "Can You Hear Me?" diversity equity and inclusion DEI. It's become a major focus of most corporations, but if you want to weigh in, what will you have to do to satisfy your customers, your clients, and your employees? We'll dig into that on the next episode of "Can You Hear Me?" We hope you'll join us then. And we thank you for joining us today.Eileen Rochford (49:00):And thank you for being with us Harlan.Harlan Loeb (49:02):My pleasure was a privilege. Thank you.REFERENCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/collapsing-levels-trust-are-devastating-america/616581/https://time.com/5929252/edelman-trust-barometer-2021/https://knightfoundation.org/articles/restoring-trust-in-a-polarized-age/

Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host. Welcome back, and today’s episode is going to be a solocast — it will be just you and me exploring a topic with some real depth. If you’re new to Onward Nation — I tend to record a solocast every 5 to 6-weeks to share some insights, perhaps some research, or examples I gathered from hanging out and talking with agency owners, business coaches, and strategic consultants just like you. Or sometimes — I’ll pull some data points and results from the most recent experiments we’ve been running inside the Predictive ROI Lab so you can take and apply the new strategies or tactics to fill your sales pipeline with right-fit prospects. Okay — let’s shift our attention to today’s topic. I titled this episode “Now Is The Time to Double Down” for several specific reasons. Almost exactly to the day — one year ago — I shared with you a distillation of over 400 pages of research around how business owners marketed their way through a recession like what we were facing back in March 2020…and candidly…are still facing right now in April 2021. But — the data I shared with you then wasn’t focused on the survival of business owners of just the last recession but the last six recessions. If you listened to Episode 933 — you and I would have walked through all of that data…and more specifically…how the owners doubled down and made progressive decisions so they could navigate their business through the choppy waters and be in the exact right position to come roaring out the other side of their respective recession. The last 13-months have certainly taught us many lessons about navigating ourselves through a crisis — painful lessons personally — and of course — inside our businesses. We learned what it feels like to hurt — and to hurt in a big way — to hurt as family, as friends, as a country — to just hurt and to not feel like there was anywhere to turn. What it means to truly have grit. What it means to be compassionate and to take a stand for what we know is right. What it feels like when we can’t hug a loved one when they need it most. What it means to look into the eyes of your team and tell them everything’s going to be okay — when you know behind the curtain — you’re struggling to keep your head above water. In 2020 — we learned so many valuable lessons. And my hope is that through all of the mess that the year was — and the challenges that still linger today — that you also saw some silver linings. That you took the most overused word of 2020 — which was most likely “pivot” — and you put it to good use. That you reinvented. That you asked your clients, prospects, and audience how you could be even more helpful — and you stepped up — and showed your teammates what leadership is all about. That you jumped into the trenches — back to back — and you dug, slung, and moved the same mud as your team. And that you were open, you were honest, and you let them see you cry when you needed to cry. We all had those moments. You didn’t — and you don’t have to have all the answers — because you’re human. So for this solocast…we’re going to take a step back. I’m going to walk you through a small slice of the data from 12-months ago for a couple of reasons. One — I want you to see how far you have come…how you moved along that path…to reflect on the decisions you made…and the result outcomes. And yes — nothing is ever perfect…but you’re still here. And there’s victory in that. Two — we’re going to celebrate a few businesses and their owners who really crushed it. And I don’t mean necessarily from a revenue perspective…but I mean from the perspective of being the beacon of hope when we needed them to be. Being there every time their clients or customers had a question — and oftentimes a difficult one — there they were — being helpful. Let’s celebrate that because in good times — or in bad, like a global pandemic — it’s a great recipe for us to follow. And three — as we see the economy recovering — and we see momentum beginning to come back — what are some things you could be doing right now to fill your sales pipeline with right-fit prospects? I’ll share some insights that you can take and apply. So you see? Now’s the time to double down. Now’s the time to push even harder. Now’s the time to say to your team…“We’re going to plant our flag of authority in this niche so that during the next crisis — we will have even further future-proofed our business.” Now. Right now. Now’s the time to double down. Okay…deep breath. I have one more thing to share with you before we dive in. And it’s a really big, super awesome, and very sincere THANK YOU! If I could give you a big hug — I would. Today’s episode is number 1,000 of Onward Nation. And that doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because you and all of our subscribers around the world have shared feedback with us, asked questions, cared enough to point out ways we could be even better, and you shared our episodes with your colleagues, family, and friends. THANK YOU — it has been my honor to sit in this seat for the last 6 years and to have the opportunity to share the insights and wisdom from our guests…with you. There is also a very long list of family, teammates, mentors, and friends who have made these 1,000 episodes possible. They were there in the beginning — they prodded me along the way — they encouraged me when I was down — and they held me accountable to get done what I promised to do. Needless to say — I have a lot of phone calls and thank you cards to write because what John Wooden said was so true — “You will never outperform your inner circle” — and I feel fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by rockstars. So sincerely, Onward Nation…THANK YOU! Okay… I built this solocast to act as a beacon around why — in my opinion — Now’s The Time to Double Down. What can we do to rebuild — and if we work hard at it — could it be possible to come out of this recession in an even better position than when we went in? I will — and will continue to argue — yes — it is possible. And that is what drove me to do the research. To look back through past recessions, past recoveries…to study the winners and the losers…and to share with you what they did…so we can all take some lessons out of their playbooks and put them to work right now. I’m going to give you the data points and examples to show it’s possible. And — I’m going to share the next steps that you and your team can take to make it happen as well as share some free resources. And all of the research citations that I will quote can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. With all that said — let’s start stepping through why Now’s The Time to Double Down. Let’s start off by reviewing three research studies and articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Again all linked within today’s show notes. The first article is entitled “Preparing your business for a post—pandemic world,” which was published by HBR on April 10, 2020 and was written by Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter, both professors at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. I pulled golden nuggets out of Pedersen and Ritter’s work because of their emphasis on planning before and during a crisis — and how if your planning process was sound, Onward Nation — you will come roaring out the other side of the current recession and future proof your business so you’ll be even more prepared for the next crisis. But in order to prep the proper response plan with smart strategic decisions, you must first understand the position your business holds in the market. You can do that by asking yourself and your team some fundamental questions like, “who are we in our market,” “what role do we play in the market? (Are we price-sensitive suppliers, are we market leaders, do our clients and prospects see us as thought leaders, etc.?).” And — what if we double down make immediate course corrections…could we emerge as a market leader fueled by developments, new ideas, service offerings, or invest in new markets while the recession is still here — so that — we come roaring out the other side?[1] Onward Nation — the right plan should not just map out the where but also the how. You need to map out your action steps and milestones for today, next quarter, and for the remainder of the year. And it’s been my experience — this is where business owners get snagged. In fact — I just got home after several days in Chicago attending a live and in-person workshop for agency owners hosted by Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute. Okay — quick detour — can I just say — holy frickin’ bananas — it was so awesome to be live and in-person with other owners. To sit, listen, share ideas…share a meal…oh…my…word. Amazing. Alright — well — one of the exercises during the workshop was the one-year business plan. All it took was a quick show of hands for who actually had a one-page…or any length…written business plan. And only a few hands were raised. Why? Business oftentimes — we owners create lofty ideas without any of the tactical detail our teams can challenge, make better, and then implement — or worse yet — there’s no plan at all because we rely on winging it. Winging it may work during good economic times — but what we learned in 2020 was that winging it falls super short during a crisis. Like the former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Your high-level, half-baked plan quickly falls about without the right operationalized strategy. And that is exactly why when the U.S. Navy SEALS create a mission plan along with 13 contingencies for each mission they execute. Yes — 13. The SEALS anticipate that there will be an ebb and flow to the mission plan as the situation evolves and changes with new data points, variables difficult to predict, or sudden changes. They never expect to not encounter changes to the plan. But if they didn’t have a plan – they wouldn’t know what gear to take, how much gear, transportation, extraction, and the litany of other things that need to be considered. The mission doesn’t change but how you accomplish it will most likely need to ebb and flow along the way. And yet – I know many business owners who bristle at the thought of planning because they don’t want to feel boxed in or the constraint on flexibility. The Seals would tell you that it is because of how they double down on the planning process that they can be more flexible on the battlefield. Because of their planning — they have already anticipated and thought through their options – and – have everything they need to quickly proceed with a new direction. Your business can be just as nimble with the right planning. Yes, COVID has been confusing. It’s been stressful. And there have been times when working with my leadership team at Predictive over the last 12 months when I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to start doing things to see if anything would stick. But — we didn’t until we had a plan. So as we start to see the end of this tunnel we’ve been in — I’m pushing you to take a step back…have discipline…look around…ask yourself and your team questions…look at today…this week…this month…and map out…IN WRITING…the steps you intend to take quickly for both the short—term — and — identify how those steps will set your business up for success in 12-months as it relates to your 3-year mission. Now — another lesson about planning. The plan is no good unless you have shared it — taught from it — marinated your team in it — and then repeated the process over and over again. You need to communicate the details of the plan as well as the process used to create the plan — with your entire team. If you or your leadership team works through the planning process in a vacuum and doesn’t share highlights, milestones, or progress as the plan is evolving — I’m telling you — your team will feel lost…they won’t know how to implement it…you will have lost your opportunity to create buy-in…and your culture will suffer. Your team was just as confused, scared, and concerned as you were when COVID first hit. And now — many of them…if not all of them…are looking forward to the possibilities that await you and your business on the other side of this recession. And you building the plan will help them not only see those possibilities — but — ensure that they see your vision — and — they will know how to make it become a reality. But to be clear — I’m not suggesting that your entire team needs to be involved in the creation of the core plan. But what I am suggesting is that you take a lesson out of the book, “Extreme Ownership” where you and your leadership team create the core plan — brief your entire team on the objectives and intent of the plan — and then ask junior members of your team to meet and work out the tactical details for implementing the plan.[3] Your job is to make sure you are clear on the objectives and the intent of the plan. Then set your expectations for the timing for the completion of the plan — quickly…like 24— to 48—hours — and have each of the junior team members present their portion of the plan back to you and your leadership team. Then everyone asks questions and in doing so – does some stress testing of the plan. It’s crucial to create space for the plan to evolve but that doesn’t mean your planning process needs to take weeks. It can be days and you will be off and running. I assure you — your greatest challenge during the planning process will be to prioritize. You need to be careful that you don’t start numerous projects that all depend on the same critical resources. If you do — you will burn out your team and nothing will get done with excellence. Instead — take your five, six, or 10 great ideas…apply pressure to them…and distill them down to one to two great ideas with clear steps for the next 30-days. And then keep a list of all of the other ideas and come back to it in 30-days and re-evaluate what should be next. And if you go to today’s show notes — you will be able to download a super helpful calendar from our good friends at Elite Entrepreneurs — it will help you visualize each and every meeting you should be having with your team throughout the year so that you can communicate the details of your plan. Now let’s shift our attention to the imagination — because we need it now more than ever. Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, both part of the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, wrote a brilliant article entitled, “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever” which was published by the Harvard Business Review on April 10, 2020. A link to the full text of the article can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes. Reeves and Fuller put forth the argument that imagination — in the face of uncertainty, economic recession, and the historic challenges we’re facing right now — is exactly what we need to solve the problem. But it is difficult to apply imagination and all of its benefits when we are in full-on crisis management mode. Why? Because when something unexpected and significant happens our first instinct is to defend against it. Then we later move to understand and manage whatever caused the crisis so we can get back to the status quo. The authors believe – and I agree – “that your capacity to imagine…to create, to evolve, and to pursue ideas — is a crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities, and finding new paths to growth.”[4] But the challenge is — and my guess is when I impressed upon you the importance of planning a few minutes ago — you may have said to yourself “Stephen…there’s no time for planning – I need to double down and take action now.” Same thing with imagination — because of the pressure of COVID— it will be one of the hardest things to keep alive in your business — both now and into the future. However — imagination — rethinking how you can double down in what you deliver to be helpful to your clients and prospects is exactly what can help you come roaring out the other side of this recession. For example — in recessions and downturns, 14 percent of companies outperform both historically and competitively because they invested in new growth areas. Apple released its first iPod in 2001 — the same year the U.S. economy experienced a recession that contributed to a 33 percent drop in Apple’s total revenue. Still – Apple saw the iPod’s ability to transform its product portfolio so the company increased R&D spending by double digits, which sparked an era of high growth for the company.[5] But — let’s shine a bright light on some non-Apple companies because sometimes it’s super easy to discount these types of case studies because most of us don’t have several hundred billion lying around that we can invest toward R&D. That said — if you were to take a look inside the communities of Agency Management Institute, Elite Entrepreneurs, and Smart Real Estate Coach — you could find business owner after business owner who had their best year in history during 2020. I know many business owners who doubled sales, team size, and profit in the last 12-months. How on Earth is that possible? Were they just lucky — in the right place — at the right time — with the right silver lining? It would be lovely if it were that simple — but no. They re-imagined the possibilities. They doubled down on being helpful. They asked their clients and prospects what they needed? They shared their insights and wisdom by teaching generously. And — they didn’t just focus on service delivery. They marketed. They created content. They stepped up in a big way to be a solution. They rolled out new offerings. Retired old offerings. And they made it even easier to do business with them. They reimagined every aspect of their business, Onward Nation — and you can too. And there’s still time. If you can rally your teams — create an imaginative plan that everyone buys into because they had a hand in building it — you will likely be way ahead of your competitors as we come roaring out of this recession. Right now — because of everything that has happened over the last year — you might be the only one serving your niche who is actually thinking about how best to double down on being helpful. The rest of your industry might be thinking about that next promotional push…something…anything in order to get a few dollars in to make Q2 look promising. But — I’m encouraging you to IMAGINE a completely different path. A path where you generously share your smarts, your insights, where you teach the best of what you have and how it aligns with the business issues and challenges your clients, prospects, audience face — in good times or in crisis. You do all of this while everyone else is simply reacting. You’ll be on a completely different level. Why? Because you allowed yourself the time to imagine the blue ocean of possibilities — and — you worked your butt off to make it happen. Okay — so let’s dial this in a little further. How do you do all of that? Let me help by giving you a push from the authors. Instead of asking yourself and your team passive questions like “What will happen to us during this recession?” — flip the script — by asking active, open questions like “How can we create new options?” Or — “How can we double down and be even more helpful to our clients and prospects during this crisis?” What could we teach? What research and strategic insights could we share? What online event, webinar, or forum could we host for our clients, prospects, and audience that would share the best of what we’ve got to help them navigate what’s next? And yes — I agree with you — there are no easy solutions or silver bullets. This is a ton of work. My Predictive team and I have wrestled through many options when we were building out our 1-year Strategic Plan. We’ve worked through everything I’m recommending to you…I have seen it in action. So yes — it’s hard — the discipline you need in order to essentially force yourself to imagine the possibilities — create a plan — and see it through — will — no doubt — be challenging. But — all of this work — I assure you — will help you plant your flag of authority in the niche you serve — and — you will be of greater service to your clients, prospects, and audience…and…when you do this the right way…and your heart is in the right place…you will attract an abundance of right-fit prospects into your sales pipeline. And you will come roaring out the other side of this recession. Okay – the last nugget I want to share with you was a game-changer for me. I have been a student of mindset, attraction theory, and the power of the mastermind for years. I’m a firm believer in that which we focus on we get more of. Perseverating over negative thoughts produces negative results and I have seen the reverse happen, too. And when blended with a great plan, intentional execution, and hard work – the details within the plan become reality. However — what I learned from this article and wanted to share with you is how this actually plays out in the world of statistics, too. For example — “when we lose hope and adopt a passive mindset, we cease to believe that we can meet our ideals or fix our problems. In statistics, what’s called “Bayesian Learning” involves taking a belief about a statistical distribution – the prior results in other words – and then updating it in the light of each new piece of information obtained. Essentially — the outcome of the entire process can be determined by the initial belief. Therefore Onward Nation — in a very real way — pessimism can become a self—fulfilling prophecy.”[6] In the show notes — I cite the section of research from the article I just shared with you so you can do a deep dive into the justification for it if you like. So let’s go high level for a minute — if you focus on being imaginative, being open to the possibilities, giving your team grounds for hope, encouraging them to be innovative…and all of this is done with the intent of being helpful to your clients and prospects in a way you never have been before…you will make progress. Meanwhile – your competitors will be bogged down in the myriad of thin things and trapped in a short-term survival mentality that requires them to TAKE from their clients and prospects…and guess what…it won’t work. There were many silver linings of the last 12-months if we look hard enough — and I will tell you that one of the biggest — is that we as people are even more attuned to generosity, transparency, truth, and it has become super easy to sniff out a fake. So — imagine yourself generously playing the long game and your clients and prospects will love you for it because they will see you are genuinely playing the game for their benefit. Trust me when I say that the trench you’re fighting in every day – that trench of pressure, doubt, fear, anxiety, and at times…overwhelm…yep, I know that trench well, too. And I’m right there — right here — with you…slugging it out, too…and working hard. One thing I’m grateful for is that because of the last 12 months — at Predictive — we sharpened our leadership and planning skills. We were forced to quickly build a plan. My fellow leaders and I prioritized…we mapped out how we could be helpful to our clients and prospects…and we did all of that from the spirit of imagination. And then we shared it with our team. Now – taking you behind the curtain in full transparency…we did all of that in 48—hours. This is not a 4—6 week process. Don’t get bogged down. Get moving. Let’s keep up the momentum of the planning process and begin to think about how you could deal with the myriad of business pressures right now. Do you continue to look to cut operating costs. Do you reduce staff? Do you work to open new markets and invest in R&D, or some other combination of strategies? And – is there an ideal combination or blend of the strategies – and if so – what have been the result outcomes from other companies as they worked to navigate past crises. Thankfully – there is some excellent research available on all of the above. With that said – it might seem a bit odd that I am going to now turn our attention toward an article / published study in the Harvard Business Review from 2010. Why would I pull from an article that is 10—years old? The article is entitled, “Roaring Out of Recession” and was published in HBR on March 3, 2010. I’m encouraging you and your team to study it because the data points within the article provide a whole lot of context that will be helpful to what you’re working on today. Back in 2010 of course – the country was looking for any and all help in pulling itself out of the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. But in order to make smart recommendations to their 2010 readers – the authors went back and gathered data from the past three global recessions: The 1980 crisis (which lasted from 1980 to 1982) The 1990 slowdown (1990 to 1991) And the 2000 bust (2000 to 2002) They studied 4,700 public companies, breaking down the data into three periods: The three years before a recession The three years after And the recession years themselves.[8] It took the researchers over 12-months to complete the research and they focused on publicly traded companies because of the availability and access to data. Here are some of the strategic insights from the research… 17 percent of the companies in the study didn’t survive their respective recession. About 80 percent of 4,700 companies in the study (3,760 companies) had not yet regained their pre-recession growth rate for sales and profits three years after the recession. 40 percent of the 4,700 companies (1,880 companies) hadn’t even returned to their prerecession sales and profits levels by the end of the three years post-recession. For the majority of the companies – the financial impact of the recession were long-lasting. Only 9 percent of companies flourished after a slowdown and did better than they had before and outperformed rivals in their industry. Interestingly — companies that cut costs faster and deeper than their competitors didn’t flourish. In fact – these were the companies in the study with the LOWEST probability — 21 percent — of pulling ahead of their competition when the economy rebounded. Counterintuitively — the company leaders that decided to double down and boldly invest more than their rivals during a recession also didn’t fare well. They only enjoyed a 26 percent chance of becoming leaders after a downturn and then into an economic rebound. And most surprising to me when I studied the research was learning that 85 percent of growth leaders heading into a recession were toppled because of the crisis. So if you’re not currently the leader in your niche – then right NOW could absolutely be your perfect opportunity if you lead your team correctly, plant your flag of authority, and be the expert your clients, prospects, and audience need you to be. The post-recession winners were companies that mastered the art of making progression decisions and balancing cutting costs to survive AND investing to grow tomorrow. And the proof is in the results with 37 percent of the post-recession winners breaking away from the pack. “The post—recession winners were the companies that cut costs selectively by focusing on increasing operational efficiency — meanwhile — they invested relatively comprehensively in the future by spending on marketing, R&D, and new assets. This is the best antidote to a recession.”[9] The researchers called the segment of companies that had taken this strategic approach, “Progressive.” Okay — so let’s define that a little further. Progressive companies deploy the optimal combination of defense and offense. Conversely — the “prevention-focused companies” in the study were the ones whose leaders quickly implemented policies that reduced operating costs, shrunk discretionary expenditures, eliminated frills, lowered headcount, and preserved cash. They also postponed making new investments in R&D, developing new businesses, or buying assets such as plants and machinery to expand their capacity. Prevention-focused leaders cut back on almost every item of cost and investment and reduce expenditures significantly more than competitors. Focusing solely on cost—cutting causes executives and employees to approach every decision through a loss—minimizing lens and pessimism permeates the organization. Prevention-focused companies did exactly what Brett Gilliland, CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, warned us against back in Episode 929 when he shared the lessons around flee, fight — and the most harmful to business owners — and that’s freezing and doing nothing. Prevention-focused companies were the ones that suffered the most during the recession – and – took the longest to recover. Or – never recovered to their pre-recession levels for sales and profit. So let’s flip that — is doubling down on promotion the right strategy…right now? No – it’s not that simple. When companies in the study focused purely on promotion — essentially having the mindset of we’re going to advertise our way out of the crisis by just shouting more often that our customers need our stuff — it developed a culture of optimism that led companies to deny the gravity of a crisis for a long time. They ignored early warning signs, such as customer’s budget cuts, and were steadfast in the belief that as long as they innovate, their sales and profits will continue to rise. They didn’t notice that because the pie was shrinking and that they must capture an even larger share from rivals to keep growing. And this typically leads to intense price competition and a zero—sum game. No one wins in a race to the bottom. However — progressive companies — which is where I’m urging you to begin thinking, Onward Nation — they are the companies that cut costs by improving operational efficiency rather than by slashing the number of employees. Only 23 percent of progressive companies cut staff — whereas 56% of prevention—focused companies do—and they lay off fewer people. And the offensive moves by progressive are even comprehensive. Progressive companies developed new business opportunities by making significantly greater investments than their rivals in R&D and marketing, and they invested in expanding their capacity. Progressive companies developed new markets and invested to enlarge their asset bases. They took advantage of depressed prices to buy property, equipment, etc. All of that combined is why the post-recession growth in sales and earnings by the progressive lead companies was the best among the 4,700 within the study. Okay — let’s do a quick recap of what we have covered so far. First — by the data — you need to have a plan that involves your entire team – you cannot afford to wing it through any crisis…and definitely not this one. Second — you need to find ways to stay open to imagination and let it impact your R&D and how you approach doubling down on being helpful to your clients and prospects. And third — if you want your business to make it through the other side of this crisis…and potentially…be in an even better position than when you entered it…now is the time to be progressive. Yes, reduce your operating expenses to boost efficiency…keep your team intact the best you can…and make investments in your marketing and R&D so you can be even more helpful to your clients, prospects, and audience. Let’s take the ROI around marketing investments a bit deeper with some data points collected from a study commissioned by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI). “ASI studied 2,662 firms from 1970 – 1991 to determine the effect of marketing on a company during a recession. Firms that marketed during a recession increased in value and got more marketing bang for their investment. In some cases – up to three years after the recession had ended. It seems like common sense – if you market when everyone else stops marketing – your message is more likely to be noticed due to a less cluttered market and your business is more likely to be remembered once your competitors begin marketing again.” In my opinion, Onward Nation — this NOW’S THE TIME for you not to be silent. You need to be in front of your clients, prospects, and audience — and yes — that is marketing. But — not pitchy and salesy. Focus on helping. Drew McLellan and I mapped out a complete blueprint for how to do this — and how to do it well — in our book, “Sell with Authority.” And if you want a free paperback copy — all you need to do is send me an email at stephen@predictiveroi.com and I will ship you a copy. No shipping fees — nothing. Just let me know you want a copy — and we’ll ship it straight away. I want you to have a progressive mindset about how to lead your business to the other side of this recession — and — I want you to be very thoughtful about the content you and your team creates and shares. This is why I also want to share some highlights from a special report from Edelman because the context here will help guide the context of your content. You can access a full copy of the report from the Edelman website using the link at the bottom of today’s show notes. Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote, and protect their brands and reputations. Edelman employs 6,000 people in more than 60 offices. And they have been studying, researching, reporting on the topic of trust for the last 20—years. Their report has become the standard for excellence on the topic. Edelman conducted a 12—market study on the critical role brands are expected to play during COVID. They interviewed 12,000 people in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. I’m going to walk through a high—level overview of just a handful of key insights… 71 percent said if they perceive that a business is putting profit over people, they will lose trust in that business forever.[10] 84 percent said they want advertising to focus on how brands help people cope with pandemic—related life challenges.[11] 77 percent said they want brands only to speak about products and services in ways that show they are aware of the crisis and the impact on people’s lives.[12] And the study showed that there’s a deep desire for expertise. 84 percent of respondents globally said that they want businesses to be a reliable news source that keeps people informed. They want to receive this information from multiple sources, in part because they are skeptical about any individual medium given the proliferation of fake news. Taking that further — 85 percent of respondents want you to be an educator, offering your audience instructional information. With that said — I’m not suggesting that you play doctor or infectious disease expert. But what I am recommending is that you pick up the torch and lead the conversations in your niche about the business impact COVID has had — and is having — on your customers, your vendors, your industry as a whole. And — continue to champion the distribution of resources, research, or anything else you think will be helpful to your community of clients and prospects who are desperately seeking answers. If you’re on our email list – you likely received updates from me when PPP was first a thing — and then the series of resources, calculators, applications, tax resources, etc. that were all made available shortly thereafter. Our expertise isn’t in the public health arena – but – we absolutely believed we could be helpful to business owners within our community by sharing resources we have curated. And you know what? The response from our community was incredible because we shared the right resources, at the right time, with absolutely no expectation of return. Helping, Onward Nation. Not selling. The team at Edelman believes that COVID has — and will — fundamentally change how we think, behave, and consume. Business owners that act in the interest of their employees, clients, prospects, and other stakeholders will reinforce their expertise, leadership, and trust and immeasurably strengthen those bonds. Your community is looking to you to share your thought leadership and expertise – and you can’t do that by shrinking or by being quiet. They want you to demonstrate your authority. Don’t be promotional – be helpful. Don’t focus on selling – but be solutions-focused. NOW’S THE TIME to Double down on sharing your expertise like you never have before. I assure you…creating an authority position will deliver a financial return on your investment. Okay – let’s begin to wrap up and come in for a landing by circling back to some additional framing about what makes someone an authority. Thought leaders don’t write content that anyone else could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything. And thought leaders don’t compete on price. And because of COVID, the data from Edelman, the data from our own ROI of Thought Leadership study (we’ll add a link in the show notes so you can download a free copy), and many other relevant sources — I will argue — that NOW’S THE TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN and plant your flag of authority. Churning out generic content to get ahead in Google rankings may have worked 20 years ago – but it doesn’t work today and it’s not helpful to your audience. In our book entitled, “Sell with Authority”, Drew and I shared highlights from the 2019 Trust Barometer study from Edelman, a global PR agency, which has conducted the study each year for the last 20—years. It’s a worldwide study with 33,000 consumers participating in 27 countries. One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that buyers assign a high level of trust to people they believe are just like themselves. When you think about the impact that ratings, reviews, and influencers have with their audiences, you begin to see the power of that belief. But Edelman’s research isn’t about the celebrity influencer. This study documents the rise of the common man influencer – business owners just like you and me, Onward Nation. It’s noteworthy because it gives statistical validity to the idea of real people as influencers and the impact they can have on the beliefs around a brand. The one attribute that ranked higher than the trust we have in people like you and me is the trust we have in highly educated experts. The only three groups of people we trust more than people like ourselves are company, industry, and academic experts. Experts are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge in a specific industry or niche. So why in the world wouldn’t you capitalize on that? Instead of creating generic content that looks and sounds like everyone else during this crisis – take the opportunity to create thought leadership content that is unique, different, and helpful – not promotional. A true authority has something specific to teach us, and they want to be helpful or illuminating. They’re eager to share what they know because they have a genuine passion for it, and they don’t fear giving away the recipe to their secret sauce (or so it’s perceived). That confidence and generosity are contagious. Their expertise is something specific groups of people (their sweet—spot prospects) are hungry to access. Call them an expert, a thought leader, an authority, a sought—after pundit, advisor, or specialist. They’re all words for the same thing—a trusted resource that has earned that trust by demonstrating and generously sharing the depth of their specialized knowledge over and over again. Drew and I would argue that a true authority has a strong point—of—view or belief that influences how they talk about their subject area. A narrow niche, a strong point—of—view, and being findable in multiple places are the hallmarks of an authority position. And — they have a plan for creating content that is helpful to their niche and not focused on selling. All of the data points to the validity of leveraging your own thought leadership as your core strategy to proactively market your way through the recession and to make it through to the other side in a stronger position than when all of this happened. You need a plan, with some imagination, some hard work, progressive ideas, and the willingness to invest your time and attention toward execution. But if you do that – and your clients, prospects, and audience can see that you are being helpful…when they are ready to enter the market again…you’ll have put yourself in the best possible position for a new trajectory of growth. Your competitors aren’t doing this hard work. And that should be the most compelling reason why NOW’S THE TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN. The data is all on your side, Onward Nation. Okay – whew – was that a lot? Holy bananas – it sure felt like a lot. And remember — all of the research sources can be found in the endnotes in today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. As always — I look forward to your feedback. The emails you send me — and your comments on social media — all help us get better every day — so thank you for that Onward Nation and keep them coming. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this solocast and to make Episode 1,000 that much more special. I’m grateful! And if you need me — you can reach me directly at Stephen@predictiveroi.com. That’s my actual Inbox and I read and reply to every email. Okay, Onward Nation — until our next episode — onward with gusto! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [1] “Preparing Your Business for a Post—Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [2] “Preparing Your Business for a Post—Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [3] “Extreme Ownership”, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, St. Martin’s Press, 2015. [4] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [5] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [6] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [7] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [8] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [9] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [10] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [11] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [12] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020.

Every year, Edelman publishes a trust barometer. This year, trust in most of our social institutions — and especially in media — was down. Margit asks Richard Edelman (CEO of Edelman), Emily Chang (Executive Producer at Bloomberg), and Helena Maus (CEO of Archetype) how real is the crisis of trust in media and beyond; what’s behind it; how does it relate to the perceived friction between tech and the media… and what will it take to (re)build trust."4B with Margit" is a Clubhouse show for raw and unfiltered advice from comms and marketing experts who have seen it all, as well as insider stories from the builders and pioneers who were in the trenches. Think “Scandal” meets “Halt and Catch Fire.” Catch it live Wednesdays 4-5 PST.  For more a16z Clubhouse shows, visit a16z.com/clubhouse. 

Jarrod Moses on EDELMAN STUDIOS Edelman recently announced the launch of Edelman Studios, a global center of excellence for content creation and production. Edelman Studios will be overseen by Jarrod Moses, CEO of United Entertainment Group, a DJE Holdings Company. "Clients are seeking partners who can create campaigns based on actions that integrate earned, paid and culture," said Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. "A seismic shift is underway away from legacy advertising toward dynamic feeds that deliver content in the form of connected stories. The mission of Edelman Studios is to help clients create direct relationships with people by delivering valued content driven by data and technology." In making the announcement Moses said, "Edelman Studios will be an industry leading collective of story makers, distributors, and tech platforms that work together to enable clients to be faster and more impactful while empowering people to engage with brands in real time, leading to affinity and growth. We will aggressively build upon our partnerships with the Hollywood creative community in order to expand our work in making culturally connected stories for brands."

Over the past year, there have been greater expectations on CEOs when it comes to taking the lead on societal issues, communicating effectively, and largely filling the void people feel when it comes to the government. What do people expect from CEOs, and as a result, what role does the CEO have today? This week, Edelman's CEO, Richard Edelman, speaks with Felix Salmon, Chief Financial Correspondent at Axios about good CEOs, information bankruptcy, return to work, and the “no go zone” of where CEOs should be.

“This is the era of information bankruptcy,” -- Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO. Trust is the watchword for PR pros, and this article from PR Daily highlights some fascinating changes in public trust and strong signals that communicators have a lot of work to do. Special thanks to former show guest Marc Whitt, who suggested this one! Check out Marc's bestselling book, PR Lessons Learned Along the Way: Strategies, Tips & Advice for the Higher Ed and Nonprofit Public Relations Professional. GET THE T-SHIRT! Show you're an exclusive member of the Virtual Lounge with this cool tee! Click here! A Little Help? Please take a moment to show your support for the show by leaving a starred review on Apple Podcasts. Your review will help us attract more listeners and sponsors to keep it going. Here's how: https://digitalhealthtoday.com/support/how-to-review-itunes/ Here's the link to our show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pr-after-hours/id1496015627 Follow us on Twitter: @HoursPR Listen to our entire first season of episodes and more on the show website: PRAfterHours.com. PR After Hours Theme: https://filmmusic.io "Bossa Antigua" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC. Sound effects. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission on some of our Amazon links. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alex-greenwood1/message

Richard Edelman, CEO at Edelman, talks about his company 2021 “Trust Barometer.” Host: Carol Massar. Producer: Doni Holloway. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Richard Edelman, CEO at Edelman, talks about his company 2021 “Trust Barometer.” Host: Carol Massar. Producer: Doni Holloway.

Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories have filled the vacuum left by the mistrust of media and politicians, which makes people doubt all information - both good and bad. This has led to real-world consequences, such as the belief among some Americans that the results of the 2020 election could and should be overturned, and the hesitancy of at least one-third of the global population to take the coronavirus vaccine. Watch the full interview with Richard Edelman, CEO of the public relations giant Edelman, which has been conducting its annual global survey, the "Edelman Trust Barometer", since 2001. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

In this first Ad Chatter episode of 2021, Dan Goldgeier and David Burn discuss some weighty topics, including:- The TV ad onslaught during the Georgia Senate races- SAG-AFTRA's call for a stop to all production in LA, bringing film and TV to another halt- Many advertisers pull their  budgets in the wake of last week's deadly riot at the US Capitol- Twitter and Facebook finally do their jobs and cancel Don Trump's accounts- Richard Edelman's call for business leaders to lead in this time of crisis- AT&T's CEO minces no words, but has the company also pulled all funding from GOP lawmakers?- The emotional triggers that move people to buy in the first place

Host Paul Laudicina interviews Richard Edelman, CEO of communications firm Edelman and creator of the Edelman Trust Barometer. They discuss how public trust in government and business is evolving during the COVID-19 pandemic and through our current period of racial unrest and protest in the US. Coronavirus: A World Transformed is produced by the Global Business Policy Council at Kearney, a think tank deciphering today's biggest changes and their effects on global business. Learn more at kearney.com/gbpc.

Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm and is on Great Minds with returning guest Claudia Romo Edelman, a Mexican-Swiss diplomat who is a Special Adviser at the United Nations and the We Are All Human Foundation, whose mission is to advance an agenda of equity, inclusion and representation. They also happen to be husband and wife.

Richard Edelman, CEO at Edelman, discusses his firm's Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust. He says that consumers are paying close attention to whether or not brands are standing up for their personal values. Edelman also points out that this is a big moment for brands. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. Producer: Doni Holloway.

Richard Edelman, CEO at Edelman, discusses his firm's Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust. He says that consumers are paying close attention to whether or not brands are standing up for their personal values. Edelman also points out that this is a big moment for brands. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. Producer: Doni Holloway. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In this episode of Future Fluency, we speak with Richard Edelman on the ways that peoples trust in governments, corporations, and individuals have changed during the COVID-19 crisis.

Good Morning Onward Nation – I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host. Thanks for coming back – and if you’re new to Onward Nation – please know – I greatly appreciate your time and it’s wonderful to have you here. Today’s episode is going to be a solocast – just you and me exploring a topic with some real depth. And sort of a house-keeping heads up – this may very well be one of the longest solocast I’ve ever recorded – if not the longest. In fact – during one of the morning kick-start meetings with my Predictive team this week – I shared with them that I felt like I was back at the university getting ready to teach a half-day session on campus. For the last several days — I’ve been writing on my whiteboards…erasing…starting over…scouring through literally 400 pages of research reports…and then refining my thoughts. This will be a long one – but my hope is that when you and I are finished walking through it – you’ll feel it was well worth your time. As I considered topics that would be helpful to you and your team — I thought about the daily phone calls I’ve had over the last several weeks with business owners…or the emails I have received from owners within our Onward Nation community…business owners just like you…who wanted some help brainstorm strategies, or to have an opportunity to get a sanity check on the next steps they were considering, or to help them talk through decisions they were thinking about making within their business. Here’s the reality, Onward Nation – without question – we’re facing new and historic challenges But – even though sometimes the challenges may seem insurmountable – I’m telling you – they aren’t. I get it — none of us have ever had to deal with something exactly like COVID-19 before – but – we have certainly worked through and navigated some very major crises before…and we survived through it all. Look – you know that I’m not a rah-rah, blow inspiration your way in order to make you feel better kind of person. I like data. I like examples. I like research. I like proven methods. So I built the content of this episode from the ground up to be a resource that you and your team can use to market – yes, market – your way through the crisis. I’m going to share some big golden nuggets from the research that I have curated from a variety of sources – and special thanks to Drew McLellan and Susan Baier for helping me knit the data points together. I’m grateful for how you always generously share your smarts. So that’s what you and I are going to talk through today – how you and your team can proactively market your business through this crisis – and at the same time – get through to the other side in a healthy position and ready for the rebound in the economy. Make no mistake. It is not a quick fix. It isn’t easy. It will take hard work. And it may require that you make some difficult decisions. But — if you do all we talk about in this solocast…you will not only put your business in a position to make it through to the other side…but you will have also future-proofed your business for when the next crisis, challenge, or recession lands on our doorsteps. Okay – so that’s the plan for today. Deal? But – before we dive into all of that…I feel like I’d be remiss if we didn’t squarely address the emotional side of what we…as owners…are dealing with right now. I hope you’ll forgive me here – because the next several minutes might sound like venting…because I kind of am…but my guess is…you might take this opportunity to vent right alongside me as I share this. Candidly — part of what drove me to do the research, to write, and record this solocast was my own anger — my own frustration, my disappointment, and my sadness around what is happening right now. I will tell you — there have been some days where I’ve felt bruised, battered, bewildered, and quite frankly…exhausted. My lens through which I normally view the world is to always look for the silver lining – and there are indeed silver linings with today’s crisis – but I admit…it’s taken me longer than normal to see them. These are some big emotions so I wanted to tackle each of them in front of you because I know many of you have felt the same. You’ve shared that with me in our calls and emails. Or – maybe you’re wrestling with or feeling something entirely different. Either way – maybe we’ll find some common ground here together. I’m going to start with sadness. I’m so sad for all of the families here in the United States and abroad that have had to say goodbye to a loved one, way too soon, because of COVID. I have several at-risk family members and friends — as I’m sure you do, too — and we’d be devastated if we were to lose any of them…ever. My heart is also broken for business owners who have had to shut down…who are now questioning the livelihoods and the livelihoods of their employees. And to make matters worse — many owners played by all the rules when seeking financial assistance…and yet…they were left out in the cold. How could this possibly happen? And — I’m embarrassed to admit…when I think about my feelings of sadness…they quickly transition to anger and frustration. Even as I thought through and then wrote out what I wanted to share with you today — I felt my eyes welling up as I reflected on my sadness and then I heard my fingers pounding on my keyboard harder and harder because my level of tension grew. I’m angry and frustrated when I hear of instances where our courageous healthcare workers and first responders who were asked to run toward the fight…yet had to do it at great personal risk because they didn’t have the gear they needed. And yet – our brave men and women didn’t stop — they did their duty because we all needed them to. Or – I feel myself get angry when I hear politicians on both sides of the aisle and bureaucrats seemingly make decisions with their own best interests in mind and not their constituents. With the end result being that many small business owners were left out of the original stimulus – and have been forced to dangle in the wind and hope they get the assistance they desperately need — because someone, somewhere, was playing favorites. Yet through it all — as I talk with business owners, Onward Nation – as I’m hearing similar emotions felt — I will tell you what I’m NOT hearing…and that’s the word QUIT. Out of all of those calls — and all of the emails I have received — literally — not one person has said to me that they had decided to throw in the towel and quit. Not a single person. And that is one of the many reasons why I love business owners as much as I do. You’re some of the most tenacious, generous, and committed people I know. You give, you sacrifice, and you lend support wherever you can. I love that about you. So when the roles are reversed and support is promised to you…and you’re told by a big box bank that they’ll be there for you…and then we come to find out that that was never their intention…you bet, Onward Nation…that makes me really, really angry. I’m angry for every business owner who was given a promise and then that promise was broken. Yes, I get it…life isn’t fair but I was hoping that during this crisis we would have demonstrated that we learned some important lessons from the mistakes of the past. I’m frustrated that the answers and next steps for business owners have been few and far between. So – I built this solocast as a way to provide a roadmap for where we as owners can and should go next in the coming weeks. What can we do to rebuild — and if we work hard at it — could it be possible to come out of this crisis in a better position than when we went in? And that’s is what drove me to do the research. To look back through past recessions, past recoveries…to study the winners and the losers…and to share with you what they did…so we can all take some lessons out of their playbooks and put them to work right now. I’m going to give you the data points and examples to show it’s possible. And — I’m going to share the next steps that you and your team can take and apply. Okay — two final housekeeping items before we dive in. First — thanks for listening to me vent — and I hope you were able to blow off a little steam in the process, too. We all need to give ourselves the grace of being able to do that from time-to-time. Yes, our teams deserve the best leadership and direction we can provide. But — you’re also human — you’re not a rock and sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it’s okay to take a step back and to honor the fact that this is an emotional time…even if that’s for 5 minutes. So thank you for giving me that grace just now, Onward Nation. Second — all of the citation and references sources that I have included can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. And third — as I mapped out all of this content on my whiteboards and worked through the written drafts — holy bananas — I quickly saw that there was no way I could cover everything in the level of detail necessary within one solocast. It would be too long and too overwhelming. So today’s solocast is Part 1 of 2. But by the time you listen to this episode — I will have likely finished up Part 2 so we will be airing it very soon. Stepping through the research… Okay, Onward Nation — with all that said — let’s start stepping through how to market your way through the crisis. And we will start off by reviewing three research studies and articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Again all linked within today’s show notes. Okay, Onward Nation — with all that said — let’s start stepping through how to market your way through the crisis. And we will start off by reviewing three research studies and articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Again all linked within today’s show notes. The first article is entitled “Preparing your business for a post-pandemic world”, which was published by HBR on April 10, 2020 and was written by Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter, both professors at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. I decided to pull golden nuggets out of Pedersen and Ritter’s work and share it with you because of their emphasis on planning before and during a crisis — and how if your planning process was sound, Onward Nation — that the end-result could be that you will not only survive the current crisis but you will have future-proofed your business so you can survive and thrive future threats. But in order to prep the proper response plan with smart strategic decisions, you must first understand the position your business holds in the market. You can do that by asking yourself and your team some fundamental questions like, “who are we in our market”, “what role do we play in the market? (Are we price-sensitive suppliers, are we market leaders, do our clients and prospects see us as thought leaders, etc.?).” And — what if we make immediate course corrections…could we emerge as a market leader fueled by developments, new ideas, service offerings, or new markets that we invest in during the lockdown? [1] Onward Nation — we all know that a plan is a course of action pointing the way to the position you hope to attain. But — the right plan should also map out what you need to do today to achieve your objectives tomorrow. And this is where business owners get snagged. Their plans consist of either lofty ideas without any of the tactical detail their team can challenge, make better, and then implement — or often times — there’s no plan at all because the business owner relies on winging it. Winging it may work during good economic times — but it doesn’t work during a crisis. And yes, I think Mike Tyson had a point when he famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And that is exactly why when the U.S. Navy Seals create a mission plan along with 13 contingencies for each mission they execute. They recognize that there will be ebb and flow to the mission plan as the situation evolves and changes with new data points, variables difficult to predict, or sudden changes. But if they didn’t have a plan – they wouldn’t know what gear to take, how much gear, transportation, extraction, and the litany of other things that need to be considered. And yet – I know many business owners who bristle at planning because they don’t want to feel boxed in or the constraint on flexibility. The Seals would tell you that it is because of the intensity of their planning process that they can be more flexible on the battlefield because they have already anticipated their options – and – have everything they need to proceed with a new direction. Here’s the reality — and I think the authors of the article were spot on when they wrote, “the lack of a plan only exacerbates disorientation in an already confusing situation.”[2] Yes, this crisis is confusing. It’s stressful. And there have been times when working with my leadership team at Predictive when I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to start doing things to see if anything would stick. But — we didn’t until we had a plan. I encourage you to take a step back…have discipline…look around…ask yourself and your team questions…look at today…this week…this month…and map out in writing the steps you intend to take quickly for both the short-term — and — identify how those steps will set your business up for success in 12-months as it relates to your 3-year mission. In addition to the planning process that you and your fellow leaders within your business need to be working through — you also need to communicate the plan as well as the process to create the plan — with your entire team. If you or your leadership team works through the planning process in a vacuum and doesn’t share highlights, milestones, or progress as the plan is evolving — I’m telling you — your team will feel lost and your culture will suffer. Your team is just as confused, scared, and concerned as you are. And many of them might be super scared and concerned for you – way more so than their own job security. So — I’m not suggesting that your entire team needs to be involved in the creation of the core plan. But what I am suggesting is that you take a lesson out of the book, “Extreme Ownership” where you and your leadership team create the core plan — brief your entire team on the objectives and intent of the plan — and then ask junior members of your team to meet and work out the tactical details for implementing the plan.[3] Your job is to make sure you are clear on the objectives and the intent of the plan. Then set your expectations for the timing for the completion of the plan — quickly…like 24- to 48-hours — and have each of the junior team members present their portion of the plan back to you and your leadership team. Then everyone asks questions and in doing so – does some stress testing of the plan. It’s crucial to create space for the plan to evolve but that doesn’t mean your planning process needs to take weeks. It can be days and you will be off and running. I assure you — your greatest challenge during the planning process will be to prioritize. You need to be careful that you don’t start numerous projects that all depend on the same critical resources. If you do — you will burn out your team and nothing will get done with excellence. Instead — take your five, six, or 10 great ideas…apply pressure to them…and distill them down to one to two great ideas with clear steps for the next 30-days. And then keep a list of all of the other ideas and come back to it in 30-days and re-evaluate what should be next. Okay — before we move on to another ingredient in the planning process – I want to give you a warning so you don’t fall into a mental trap. I learned this lesson during my mentorship with Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine when he was on our board of advisors at Predictive. And one day he shared some marketing strategies and tactics with me…and candidly…while he was sharing them with me…I was arrogantly thinking to myself, “Yes, good ideas, Darren but I’ve heard these before.” And then came the two-part question from Darren. “Stephen – you may have heard these ideas before but…” Question 1: Are you doing them? And as soon as he asked me the question – I immediately felt embarrassed. When he was sharing the ideas – I was affirming my own smarts in my head because I wanted to show myself that I had similar ideas to Darren. When instead I should have been thinking… “Yes, I have heard this before…and why aren’t we doing this?” So his challenge landed exactly the way he wanted it to land. And then the second question… Question #2: If you are doing it…can you do it better, greater, with more excellence? So – if you’re already planning…rock solid awesome. I commend you because most business owners aren’t planning right now — they are reacting without a plan, which is dangerous because it forces them to aimlessly wandering through the wilderness while trying to wing it. So my challenge to you is — can you take a nugget out of what Pedersen, Ritter, and the Navy Seals do for planning and make your planning process even better? My guess is…we all can. Now let’s shift our attention to imagination — because we need it now more than ever. Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, both part of the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, wrote a brilliant article entitled, “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever” which was published by the Harvard Business Review on April 10, 2020. A link to the full text of the article can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes. Reeves and Fuller put forth the argument that imagination — in the face of uncertainty, economic crisis, and the historic challenges we are facing right now as a nation/world — is exactly what we need to solve the problem. But it is difficult to apply imagination and all of its benefits when we are in full-on crisis management mode. Why? Because when something unexpected and significant happens our first instinct is to defend against it. Then we later move to understand and manage whatever caused the crisis so we can get back to the status quo. But we may not be able to return to our familiar pre-crisis reality. Onward Nation – no one knows for sure of course – but if I had to guess – I’d predict that COVID-19 is going to permanently change attitudes, needs, behaviors, and industries. The authors believe – and I agree – “that your capacity to imagine…to create, to evolve, and to pursue ideas — is a crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities, and finding new paths to growth.”[4] But the challenge is — and my guess is when I impressed upon you the importance of planning a few minutes ago — you felt the pressure to act and may have said to yourself “Stephen…there’s no time for planning – I need to take action now.” Same thing with imagination — because of the pressure of COVID-19 — it will be one of the hardest things to keep alive within your business right now. However — imagination — re-thinking how you can double down in being helpful to your clients and prospects right now is exactly what can help your business survive this recession. For example — in recessions and downturns, 14 percent of companies outperform both historically and competitively because they invested in new growth areas. Apple released its first iPod in 2001 — the same year the U.S. economy experienced a recession that contributed to a 33 percent drop in Apple’s total revenue. Still – Apple saw the iPod’s ability to transform its product portfolio so the company increased R&D spending by double digits, which sparked an era of high growth for the company.[5] Later in today’s solocast — I will share with you some data points from a special coronavirus report from Edelman, which shows that what your clients and prospects want from you right now is to be helpful. Share, communicate, educate, teach, and be supportive. Onward Nation — you cannot do any of those things at a high level, with excellence, by reacting…by winging it…without a plan…and with no imagination. The authors also surveyed more than 250 multi-national companies to understand what leaders were doing to manage the COVID-19 epidemic and its impact on their businesses. Interestingly, only a small number of companies are at a stage where they’re identifying and sharing strategic opportunities. I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising since big companies take longer to pivot than what our teams within our small businesses can do. But it also paints a picture of opportunity, too, doesn’t it? If you can rally your teams — create an imaginative plan that everyone buys into because they had a hand in building it — you will likely be way of ahead of your competitors. And yes I get it – you likely don’t own a multi-national company and you don’t have an R&D budget like Apple did back in 2001. But think of it this way – if multi-national companies that have budgets capable of doubling down on R&D – yet aren’t because they are in reactive mode – just think of the possibilities if you could actual reimage what’s next for you in your industry. You might be the only one serving your niche that is actually thinking about how best to double down on being helpful. The rest of your industry might be thinking about that next promotional push…something…anything in order to get in a few dollars to survive. But you can imagine a completely different path. One that shares your smarts, your insights, the best of what you have in a generous way while everyone else is reacting and frozen. You may have a blue ocean of possibilities in front of you if you can take the time to imagine all that can be. But how do you do that? Let me help by giving you a push from the authors. Instead of asking yourself and your team passive questions like “What will happen to us during this crisis?” — flip the script — by asking active, open questions like “How can we create new options?” Or — “How can we double down and be even more helpful to our clients and prospects during this crisis?” What could we teach? What research could we share? What online event, webinar, or forum could we host for our audience that would share the best of what we’ve got to help them navigate what’s next? I know — there are no easy solutions. And my Predictive team and I have wrestled through many options when we were building out our 30-day Priorities. Rest assured — we have worked through everything I’m recommending to you…I have seen it in action. But through it all – in order for this to work for you – you need to be open to new possibilities and not constrict the funnel. Okay – the last nugget I want to share with you was a game-changer for me. I have been a student of mindset, attraction theory, and the power of the mastermind for years. I am a firm believer in that which we focus on we get more of. Perseverating over negative thoughts produces negative results and I have seen the reverse happen, too. And when blended with a great plan, intentional execution, and hard work – that within the plan becomes reality. But what I learned from this article and wanted to share with you is how this actually plays out in the world of statistics, too. For example — “when we lose hope and adopt a passive mindset, we cease to believe that we can meet our ideals or fix our problems. In statistics, Bayesian learning involves taking a belief about a statistical distribution – prior results – and updating it in the light of each new piece of information obtained. The outcome of the entire process can be determined by the initial belief. Pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”[6] So – if you focus on being imaginative, being open to the possibilities, giving your team grounds for hope, encouraging them to be innovative…and all of this is done with the intent of being helpful to your clients and prospects in a way you never have been before…you will make progress. Meanwhile – your competitors will be bogged down in the thickness of things and trapped in a short-term survival mentality that requires them to TAKE from their clients and prospects…and it won’t work. Onward Nation – as a leader in your business – ask yourself whether you are giving people grounds for hope, imagination, and innovation, or whether you are using pessimistic or fatalistic language, which could create a downward spiral in organizational creativity. Dealing with real risks involves taking imaginative risks, which requires hope.[7] Trust me when I say that the trench you are fighting in every day – that trench of pressure, doubt, fear, anxiety, and at times…overwhelm…yes, I know that trench well, too. And I’m right there with you…slugging it out, too…and working hard. But one thing I’m grateful for is that we quickly built a plan at Predictive, we prioritized, we mapped out how we could be helpful to clients and prospects…and we did all of that from the spirit of imagination…and then we shared it with our team. Now – taking you behind the curtain in full transparency…we did all of that in 48-hours. This is not a 4-6 week process. Don’t get bogged down…get moving. Let’s keep up the momentum of the planning process and begin to think about how you should deal with the myriad of business pressures right now. Do you cut operating costs, do you furlough employees, do you work to open new markets and invest in R&D, or some other combination of strategies? And – is there an ideal combination or blend of the strategies – and if so – what have been the result outcomes from other companies as they worked to navigate past crises. Thankfully – there is some excellent research available on all of the above. With that said – it might seem a bit odd that I am going to now turn our attention toward an article / published study in the Harvard Business Review from 2010. Why would I pull from an article that is 10-years old? The article is entitled, “Roaring Out of Recession” and was published in HBR on March 3, 2010. I’m recommending you and your team study it because the data points within the article provide a whole lot of context that matters during today’s crisis. Back in 2010 of course – the country was looking for any and all help in pulling itself out of the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. But in order to make smart recommendations to their 2010 readers – the authors went back and gathered data from the past three global recessions: the 1980 crisis (which lasted from 1980 to 1982), the 1990 slowdown (1990 to 1991) and the 2000 bust (2000 to 2002). They studied 4,700 public companies, breaking down the data into three periods: the three years before a recession, the three years after, and the recession years themselves.[8] It took the researchers over 12-months to complete the research project and they focused on publicly traded companies because of the availability and access to data. At the high level — and I will slice the big nuggets apart in just a minute — but as a business owner this data is helpful because right now you are in the heat of battle. You are a battlefield general. You’re commanding your troops…you’re asking for the best intel…and you and your fellow leaders are trying to react and respond. But without taking the time to plan…to imagine…to think about long-term positioning…I assure you…you will be busy tackling short term priorities and your outlook on the future will continue to be obscured by the fog of war. Here are some of the highlights… Seventeen percent of the companies in the study didn’t survive the recession. About 80 percent of 4,700 companies in the study (3,760 companies) had not yet regained their pre-recession growth rate for sales and profits three years after the recession. Forty percent of the 4,700 companies (1,880 companies) hadn’t even returned to their prerecession sales and profits levels by the end of the three years post-recession. So for the majority of the companies – the financial impact of the recession were long lasting. Only nine percent of companies flourished after a slowdown, doing better on key financial parameters than they had before and outperforming rivals in their industry by at least 10 percent in terms of sales and profits growth. Interestingly — companies that cut costs faster and deeper than their competitors didn’t necessarily flourish. In fact – these were the companies in the study with the lowest probability — 21 percent — of pulling ahead of their competition when the economy rebounded. Counter-intuitively — the company leaders that decided to double down and boldly invest more than their rivals during a recession also didn’t fare well. They only enjoyed a 26 percent chance of becoming leaders after a downturn and then into an economic rebound. And most surprising to me was learning that 85 percent of growth leaders heading into a recession are then toppled because of the crisis. So if you’re not currently the leader in your niche – the current crisis could absolutely be your opportunity if you lead your team correctly over the next several months. The post-recession winners were companies that mastered the balance between cutting costs to survive today and investing to grow tomorrow. And the proof is in the results with 37 percent of the post-recession winners breaking away from the pack. “The post-recession winners were the companies that cut costs selectively by focusing on increasing operational efficiency — meanwhile — they invested relatively comprehensively in the future by spending on marketing, R&D, and new assets. This is the best antidote to a recession.”[9] The researchers called the segment of companies that had taken this strategic approach, “Progressive.” Progressive companies deploy the optimal combination of defense and offense. Conversely — the “prevention-focused companies” in the study were the ones whose leaders quickly implemented policies that reduced operating costs, shrunk discretionary expenditures, eliminated frills, lowered headcount, and preserved cash. They also postponed making new investments in R&D, developing new businesses, or buying assets such as plants and machinery to expand their capacity. Prevention-focused leaders cut back on almost every item of cost and investment and reduce expenditures significantly more than competitors. Focusing solely on cost-cutting causes executives and employees to approach every decision through a loss-minimizing lens and pessimism permeates the organization. Post-recession profits for prevention-focused enterprises typically rose by only $600 million, whereas for progressive companies they increased by an average of $6.6 billion. Prevention-focused companies were the ones that suffered the most during the recession – and – took the longest to recover. Or – never recovered to their pre-recession levels for sales and profit. So let’s flip that — is doubling down on promotion is the right strategy? Unfortunately – no – it’s not that simple. A focus purely on promotion develops a culture of optimism that led companies to deny the gravity of a crisis for a long time. They ignored early warning signs, such as customer’s budget cuts, and were steadfast in the belief that as long as they innovate, their sales and profits will continue to rise. They didn’t notice that because the pie was shrinking, they must capture an even larger share from rivals to keep growing. And this typically leads to intense price competition and a zero-sum game. No one wins in a race to the bottom. However — progressive companies — which is where I’m urging you to begin thinking, Onward Nation — they are the companies that cut costs by improving operational efficiency rather than by slashing the number of employees. Only 23 percent of progressive companies cut staff — whereas 56% of prevention-focused companies do—and they lay off fewer people. And the offensive moves by progressive are even comprehensive. Progression companies develop new business opportunities by making significantly greater investments than their rivals in R&D and marketing, and they invest in expanding their capacity. Progressive companies develop new markets and invest to enlarge their asset bases. They take advantage of depressed prices to buy property, plants, and equipment. All of that combined is why the post-recession growth in sales and earnings by the progressive lead companies was the best among the 4,700 within the study. Okay — let’s do a quick recap from what we have covered so far. First — by the data — you need to have a plan that involves your entire team – you cannot afford to wing it through any crisis…and definitely not this one. Second — you need to find ways to stay open to imagination and letting it impact your R&D and how you approach doubling down on being helpful to your clients and prospects. And third — if you want your business to make it through the other side of this crisis…and potentially…be in an even better position than when you entered it…now is the time to be progressive. Yes, reduce your operating expenses to boost efficiency…keep your team intact the best you can…and make investments in your marketing and R&D. Let’s take the ROI around marketing investments a bit deeper with some data points collected from a study commissioned by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI). “ASI studied 2,662 firms from 1970 – 1991 to determine the effect of marketing on a company during a recession. Firms that marketed during a recession increased in value and got more marketing bang for their investment. In some cases – up to three years after the recession had ended. It seems like common sense – if you market when everyone else stops marketing – your message is more likely to be noticed due to a less cluttered market and your business is more likely to be remembered once your competitors begin marketing again.” In my opinion, Onward Nation — this crisis is the time for you not to be silent. You need to be in front of your clients, prospects, and audience — and yes — that is marketing. But — this isn’t the time to be selling. This is the time to be helping. So yes — I want you to have a progressive mindset about how to lead your business to the other side of this but I want you to be very thoughtful about the content you and your team create and shares. This is why I also want to share some highlights from a recent special report from Edelman because the context here will help guide the context of your content. You can access a full copy of the report from the Edelman website using the link at the bottom of today’s show notes. Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote, and protect their brands and reputations. Edelman employs 6,000 people in more than 60 offices. And they have been studying, researching, reporting on the topic of trust for the last 20-years. Their report has become the standard for excellence on the topic. Edelman just conducted a 12-market study on the critical role brands are expected to play during the coronavirus pandemic, completed on March 26. We interviewed 12,000 people in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. This follows on a study that we released two weeks ago on the role of the private sector during the pandemic. I’m going to walk through a high-level overview of the key points… If you were ever in doubt that your brand(s) mattered, this new data reveals the power and necessity of brand as well as the urgent need for you to act. You and your team need to find solutions (think “imagination” – remember that from earlier in this solocast?) instead of selling passion or image. Your solutions need to be tangible and fast, not impressionistic and conceptual. Respondents recognized the need for specific actions to help address the societal challenges posed by COVID-19, from protecting the wellbeing of employees to shifting products, services, and pricing to create a sense of community. This crisis is indeed an opportunity for you to step up in a whole new way to be helpful in your niche. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that their country won’t make it through this crisis without businesses playing a critical role in addressing the challenges. At the same time, 71 percent agree that if they perceive that a business is putting profit over people, they will lose trust in that business forever.[10] So Onward Nation – if you’re not smart about your context ensuring it’s on-point – you could cause more harm than good from your marketing effort. Businesses must focus their messaging on solutions, not selling. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they want brand advertising to focus on how brands help people cope with pandemic-related life challenges.[11] Seventy-seven percent said they want brands only to speak about products and services in ways that show they are aware of the crisis and the impact on people’s lives.[12] And Onward Nation — the study showed that there’s a deep desire for expertise. Eighty-four percent of respondents globally said that they want businesses to be a reliable news source that keeps people informed. They want to receive this information from multiple sources, in part because they are skeptical about any individual medium given the epidemic of fake news. The most credible combination is mainstream media plus email. Taking that further — eighty-five percent of respondents want you to be an educator, offering your audience instructional information about the virus and its effects and how to protect yourselves from it. With the said — I’m suggesting that you play doctor or infectious disease expert. But what I am recommending that you do is pick up the torch and lead the conversations in your niche about the business impact the virus is having on your customers, your vendors, your industry as a whole. And — champion the distribution of resources, research, or anything else you think will be helpful to your community of clients and prospects who are desperately seeking answers. If you’re on our email list – you’ve likely received updates from me with PPP resources, calculators, applications, etc. Our expertise isn’t in the public health arena – but – we absolutely believe we can be helpful to business owners within our community by sharing resources we have curated. And the response from our community has been incredible because we shared the right resources, at the right time, with absolutely no expectation of return. Helping – not selling, Onward Nation. The team at Edelman believes that this global crisis will fundamentally change how we think, behave, and consume. There will not be a rapid return to normal. And the new world will have trust at its core, with the brand mandate expanded to solve problems for all, protect all, care for all, collaborate with all, and innovate in the public interest. Business owners that act in the interest of their employees, clients, prospects, and other stakeholders will reinforce their expertise, leadership, and trust and immeasurably strengthen those bonds. Your community is looking to you to share your thought leadership and expertise – and you can’t do that by shrinking or by being quiet. They want you to demonstrate your authority. Don’t be promotional – be helpful. Don’t focus on selling – but be solutions focused. Double down on sharing your expertise like you never have before. We’re all faced with economic challenges right now – no one is immune – and if you can resist the temptation to sell…I assure you…creating an authority position will deliver a financial return on your investment. In an upcoming episode of Onward Nation — Susan Baier, founder of Audience Audit – an exceptional research firm and our partner on a recent study on the ROI of Thought Leadership will join me to walk through the findings with you. I will tell you – the results are shocking. Yes, there is an ROI on your thought leadership when done well. For example… When a prospect chooses to work with you and your team instead of a competitor – 62 percent of the time that choice was made because of whether they consider you to be an authority or not. Susan and I are preparing an executive summary with some of the biggest findings from the research. It will be available soon. If you’d like to ensure you receive it when it’s available – go to our Resources Library at PredictiveROI.com/resources and download one of the resources to ensure you’re on our mailing list – or – you can also email me directly at Stephen@predictiveroi.com and I’ll make sure you get on the distribution list. Okay – let’s begin to wrap up an come in for a landing by circling back to the Edelman data and then some additional framing about what makes someone an authority. Onward Nation — all of the data points to the fact that we’ve entered the era of the Authority…even before COVID-19…and now even more so as a result of the virus. And while you may be sick of the phrase “thought leader”, the truth is there aren’t that many of them in the niches where you have decided to focus your business. If you haven’t yet niched down – I highly recommend you listen to Episode 930 where Eric Lanel and I talked through the importance of claiming your niche. But what makes a thought leader a thought leader? Thought leaders don’t write content that anyone else could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything. And thought leaders don’t compete on price. And because of COVID, the data from Edelman, the data from our own ROI of Thought Leadership study, and many other relevant sources — I will argue — that the ideal time for you to double down on your own thought leadership to build your authority in your niche is now. Churning out generic content to get ahead in Google rankings may have worked 20 years ago – but it doesn’t work today and it’s not helpful to your audience. In our recent book entitled, “Sell with Authority”, my co-author, Drew McLellan, and I shared highlights from the 2019 Trust Barometer study from Edelman, a global PR agency, which has conducted the study each year for the last 20-years. It’s a worldwide study with 33,000 consumers participating in 27 countries. One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that buyers assign a high level of trust to people they believe are just like themselves. When you think about the impact that ratings, reviews, and influencers have with their audiences, you begin to see the power of that belief. But Edelman’s research isn’t about the celebrity influencer. This study documents the rise of the common man influencer – business owners just like you and me, Onward Nation. It’s noteworthy because it gives statistical validity to the idea of real people as influencers and the impact they can have on the beliefs around a brand. The one attribute that ranked higher than the trust we have in people like you and me is the trust we have in highly educated experts. The only three groups of people we trust more than people like ourselves are company, industry, and academic experts. Experts are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge in a specific industry or niche. So why in the world wouldn’t you capitalize on that? Instead of creating generic content that looks and sounds like everyone else during this crisis – take the opportunity to create thought leadership content that is unique, different, and helpful – not promotional. Your competitors aren’t. So you should. Now more than ever — you can own an authority position – you can do it – and it will help you future proof your business. There has never been a better time in history to start. The data is all on your side. The 10 Truths of an Authority If you were asked to think of an authority on any subject, who would come to mind? What about them designates them as an authority? What’s true about them? And what does someone have to do to earn and keep the title of authority? Truth #1: They have a focus area or subject matter expertise. Truth #2: They don’t just repeat what everyone else is saying. Truth #3: They have a public presence where they share their expertise. Truth #4: They don’t stray from their area of expertise—think specialist versus a generalist. Truth #5: They aren’t equally attractive to everyone. In fact, they probably bore most people to tears. Truth #6: They’re significant—which is different from prolific—in terms of content creation. Truth #7: They don’t create any generic content that someone with far less knowledge or experience could have just as easily written. Truth #8: They’re perceived as an educator in some way. Truth #9: They have a passion for their subject matter. Truth #10: They have a strong point of view, which is the foundation of all of their content. A true authority has something specific to teach us, and they want to be helpful or illuminating. They’re eager to share what they know because they have a genuine passion for it, and they don’t fear giving away the recipe to their secret sauce (or so it’s perceived). That confidence and generosity are contagious. Their expertise is something specific groups of people (their sweet-spot prospects) are hungry to access. Call them an expert, a thought leader, an authority, a sought-after pundit, advisor, or specialist. They’re all words for the same thing—a trusted resource that has earned that trust by demonstrating and generously sharing the depth of their specialized knowledge over and over again. One way to recognize an authority is the ability to define them in a single sentence, like Simon Sinek. He’s “the why guy.” Brené Brown is “the dare-to-be-vulnerable woman.” They’ve so narrowly and so carefully defined their expertise that we can capture it with a word or phrase. Does Simon Sinek talk about other things? Of course. But he always ties it back to his thing—the “why.” Does Brené Brown write about additional topics? Absolutely. But she always loops it back to being vulnerable and the power that comes from being brave enough to embrace vulnerability. Beyond that, Drew and I would argue that a true authority has a strong point-of-view or belief that influences how they talk about their subject area. A narrow niche, a strong point-of-view, and being findable in multiple places are the hallmarks of an authority position. And — they have a plan for creating content that is helpful to their niche and not focused on selling. All of the data points to the validity of leveraging your own thought leadership as your core strategy to proactively market your way through the crisis and to make it through to the other side in a stronger position than when all of this happened. You need a plan, with some imagination, some hard work, progressive ideas, and the willingness to invest your time and attention toward execution. But if you do that – and your clients, prospects, and audience can see that you are being helpful and not selling…when they are ready to enter the market again…you will have put yourself in the best possible position for a new trajectory of growth. Your plan – will need to address what my team and I call the 6 tenets of how to Sell with Authority. And I will cover those in full transparent detail in Part 2 of this solocast series. Okay – whew – was that a lot? Holy bananas – it sure felt like a lot. And remember — all of the research sources can be found in the endnotes in today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. As always — I look forward to your feedback. The emails you send me — and your comments on social media — all help us get better every day — so thank you for that Onward Nation and keep them coming. And if you need me — you can reach me directly at Stephen@predictiveroi.com. Rest assured — that’s my actual Inbox and I read and reply to every email. Okay, Onward Nation — this is the time to double down like no other in history. But — be smart about it. Invest in the right areas. Make progressive decisions. And if you do all that — you will market your way through this crisis. I look forward to seeing you on the other side. Until our next episode — onward with gusto! [1] “Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [2] “Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [3] “Extreme Ownership”, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, St. Martin’s Press, 2015. [4] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [5] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [6] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [7] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [8] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [9] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [10] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [11] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [12] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020.

*We apologize for any issues with sound quality. Due to the ever-changing state of the world because of Covid-19, many of our guests are taking interviews and recording shows outside of their homes which interferes with the recording.* Communication is the common thread that connects to each other and the world surrounding us. When global events impact your communication network, it’s important that the leaders in your organization work to communicate effectively and empathetically with the workforce. Tracey Mendelsohn, Co-Principle of Human Impact Solutions and President and CEO of Black Public Relations Society-New York, joins me to chat about the importance of communication in trying times. No matter if you’re facing a global pandemic or some other economic issue, remember that you and your company will be remembered for what you do and not for what you say you’ll do. Tracey shares some wonderful pieces of advice regarding communicating with extreme empathy in trying times.  We briefly touch on the issues of diversity and inclusion as well. Now more than ever companies need to remember that culture is what is important. While the happenings around the world are terrible. The loss of life and the utter devastation that many are feeling is incomprehensible. The moment that we have been given to pause and tend to oneself and one’s family is a miraculous byproduct. Many people have come to Tracey and expressed their realization that they’ve not been happy with their job or the stressors. She stresses that everyone take this time to reconnect with the things they’re passionate about and to invest time in building those skills.  What are you learning? How are you growing? Have you been spending more time with your kids and your family? What will this mean in the future? Take this time to ponder upon these questions. Hopefully we won’t have this kind of time again! Show Notes: [01:45] Communication is the thread that moves through all areas of our lives. [02:46] Welcome Tracey Mendelsohn to the show to chat about effective communication. [03:34] Why brand management and marketing communications?  [06:08] What is the best way to communicate with our coworkers, peers, and staff? [11:03] Tracey clarifies which study she referenced that Richard Edelman did recently. [12:28] How can you maintain your networking in these troubling times?  [15:29] Learn how you can approach a challenge while still providing support. [19:37] While not everyone is made to be an entrepreneur, you can find a positive work environment.  [21:37] Diversity is not a numbers game it’s a culture investment. [23:15] How can you use this moment to benefit your future?  [26:13] Connect with Tracey. Links and Resources: Human Impact SolutionsBlack Public Relations Society of New YorkBPRSNY on InstagramBPRSNY on Twitter Episode Sponsor: Routledge

The agency CEO talks to PRWeek's Steve Barrett about the results of his firm's 2020 Trust Barometer. From PRWeek

On the PRmoment podcast this week we’ve got one of PR’s nice guys Justin Westcott.He’s currently got two jobs – not only is he chief operating officer of Edelman UK and Ireland, he’s also Edelman’s head of technology, EMEA.Justin started his PR career at Microsoft, before moving to August One and Inferno Communications. He joined Edelman in 2006.Edelman has a fee income of circa $890 million dollars and 5,500 staff and 60 offices globally.It’s an independent PR firm founded in 1952 by the last Daniel Edelman. It is currently run by his son Richard Edelman. As of 2018, it is the largest public relations firm in the world by revenue.Edelman has 600 staff in London.Here’s a flavour of what Justin and I discussed:[00:01:45] Why Justin really, really, really wanted to be a doctor but kept passing out![00:03:58] How he made the jump from IT recruitment to his first PR job in the Microsoft press office.[00:07:02] Why Justin prefers working agency side than in-house.[00:09:42] How Justin learnt the fundamentals of agency life during his time at August One.[00:13:05] Justin talks about why his time in the Middle East around 2010 was one of the most favourite parts of his career.[00:15:45] Justin talks us through his 13-year Edelman story, joining as an account director and now being COO in London and Head of Technology EMEA.[00:17:32] How does Edelman retain a cultural entrepreneurialism within such a big organisation?[00:18:38] Justin and I discuss whether there is an Edelman way of “doing” communications – a methodology that links the type work? [00:21:49] Why, if you join Edelman, Justin believes "your success within our firm can definitely accelerate or be accentuated by the relationships and the contacts you make."[00:24:26] How “a deep understanding of storytelling” underlines everything on Edelman's product and service tree.[00:25:32] Justin discusses why working with great planners was a career changing moment for him.[00:26:38] Why for the last 20 years PR has been on a journey of “unbundling the PR executive” by creating the “PR model of specialism.”[00:28:03] Why the transition of advertising planners into PR is an easier transition than advertising creatives into PR.[00:30:24] Why has Justin two jobs – head of technology, EMEA and CEO of Edelman UK and Ireland.[00:33:26] Justin talks us through the realities of running a large modern PR firm – how do you retain profitability when you now need to employ six specialists to do what one person used to do?[00:34:37] How has Edelman managed to outperform the market for the past 10 years or so by, in essence, simply cross-selling specialist related services in addition to its core PR offer?[00:37:28] Justin talks us through the practicalities of managing an agency of 600 people.[00:40:32] What does Justin put Edelman's reduced growth in recent years down to?[00:42:46] How Justin believes the last five years has been about “PR improving its strategic and creative rigour.”[00:42:55] Justin predicts that data, not from a data technologies perspective, but from a customer insight data perspective, will define the success of PR for the next five years.[00:44:33] Why "first party data is where the magic can happen."

This week, Adrian sits down with the world's most famous PR man and CEO of Edelman Public Relations, Richard Edelman. The Chicago-born executive, whose firm takes in €800m a year in revenue and has an expanding Irish office, gives Adrian his take on the state of the world. This includes the advice he would give to Mark Zuckerberg, why newspapers have to change their business model and the circumstances under which company bosses should speak openly about contemporary issues.

Neverending Story: Der Brexit geht in eine weitere Runde. Interview mit Richard Edelman über den Vertrauensverlust von “Made in Germany”. Börsenreporterin Sophie Schimansky von der Wall Street mit neuen Quartalszahlen aus den USA. Erste Prognosen von der Parlamentswahl in Kanada. Braucht Deutschland einen Weltraumbahnhof? Uwe Baltner - der unscheinbare Instagram-Star aus Ludwigsburg!

Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO and Dan Houston, Principal Financial CEO at Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Generational Opportunities See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

According to a global survey of more than 25,000 respondents, consumer trust in brands is down across the board — and expectations of social responsibility from brands is up. That is the core takeaway from the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, released last week. Richard Edelman joins the podcast to discuss this crisis of brand trust and opportunities for companies. We talk about what his clients increasingly want from him as he evolves his own business—the largest PR firm in the world--to include more advertising capabilities. We also get a little personal and discuss what it’s like running an independent family-owned company that was started by his father, Daniel J. Edelman. Plus he describes a visit from Orville Redenbacher. 

Richard Edelman is the President and CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm. The firm was named “PR Agency of the Decade” by both Advertising Age and The Holmes Report. Richard topped PRWeek’s list of most powerful executives (2013), was recognized as the third highest rated CEO by Glassdoor (2014) and was inducted in the Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame (2014). He is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004. Richard is consistently mentioned as one of the top 25 foremost experts on corporate trust. In this episode of Asking Out Loud, Richard lifts the lid on the evolution of PR as a discipline and reveals what the future looks like for the sector.

Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman, one the world’s leading marketing and communications firms, is a global evangelist for measuring how stakeholders perceive global firms and providing prescriptions for curing their ills. With the latest results from his 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard joined us in the library to share what the future holds for leading companies and the countries in which they operate.   Inside the ICE House: https://www.theice.com/insights/conversations/inside-the-ice-house

In a session from the PRovoke18 Global PR Summit, the CEO of the world's largest PR firm is interviewed by Holmes Report editor-in-chief Arun Sudhaman about the state of today's PR industry. In an expansive and honest conversation, Edelman talks through the cultural challenges facing his agency, opportunities for growth and why transformation is required if today's PR firms are to compete with advertising shops for CMO budgets. 

Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, inherited the family business from his father 40 years ago. Since then, he has expanded the company to 29 different countries, while remaining independent and family-held. Edelman discusses growth, challenges and marketing challenges in this episode of Starting Out: Cannes Edition.

In the course of a wide-ranging discussion, Edelman said:He wants at least one of his daughters to succeed him, as long as they are the most qualified - otherwise it will be a non-family member.After 40 years in PR, he's happy Edelman stayed private - as CEO he's grown revenues almost tenfold, from $90m to nearly $900m.His biggest change in 40 years is Edelman and Weber Shandwick taking over as the biggest firms from Burson-Marsteller, H+K, and Carl Byoir.Martin Sorrell is an irrepressible character, a brilliant operator, who has proven it by building a $21 billion business – he will be back.Cannes: Too many PR Lions are won by ad agencies, but PR is going to do better this year. No PR people want to walk out of the Palais muttering again – we have to win.2018 will be an "OK year" for our industry – we have to play for a 5- to 10-year time horizon."The power of earned media is only enhanced by shared media – you can't buy influence."Evolution of PR, digital and creative is a massive cultural transformation for our industry."I don't believe all the bits of a holding company come to the table with equal status – it's still advertising- or media buying-led."There's no automatic dividend to growth in developing markets.

Richard Edelman joins the Echo Chamber for a brief interview about his firm's disappointing growth in 2017, amid sustained market pressure. He discusses the firm's transformation, the impact of bringing advertising people in to run operations, the continuing benefits of scale, industry ethics and the Burson Cohn & Wolfe merger. Then former H+K Strategies EMEA CEO Sally Costerton joins Arun Sudhaman to explore the exit of Sir Martin Sorrell, his impact on his PR firms, and the group's future prospects. Show notes: Could WPP Sell Its PR Firms? M&A Specialists Weigh In Edelman Revenue Up 2.1% In 2017 To $894m

Jimmy Wales and Richard Edelman talk to Edie Lush and Claudia Romo Edelman about the globalism vs nationalism debate at Davos and how it shapes prospects for achieving the Global Goals. Leaders from countries as different as India, Canada and France said the global economic system isn't working. Fix the roof while the sun is shining, said Christine LaGarde of the IMF. President Trump presented a kinder, gentler face at Davos; but he was clear in his view that nations should put their own interests first.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi joins Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait for a conversation at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Paul Sheard, S&P Chief Global Economist, says central banks are a little too isolated. Stan Collender, Qorvis MSLGROUP Executive VP, says government shutdowns are the new normal. Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO, says 50% of people have turned off mainstream media partly due to the opinionated tone.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi joins Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait for a conversation at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Paul Sheard, S&P Chief Global Economist, says central banks are a little too isolated. Stan Collender, Qorvis MSLGROUP Executive VP, says government shutdowns are the new normal. Richard Edelman, Edelman CEO, says 50% of people have turned off mainstream media partly due to the opinionated tone. 

The technology industry and government should be open to having a more positive working relationship, according to Edelman’s President and CEO Richard Edelman. Richard was speaking to Sideload, the technology podcast from Edelman London, about how the technology industry can gain public trust. In the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, the technology industry remained one of the most trusted sectors. Trust in technology globally has stayed close to the 75% mark in recent years. However, many of the big players have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons with data breaches and legislative sanctions undoubtedly gaining public attention. Could this affect public trust in the future?

Paul Holmes joins the Echo Chamber podcast to discuss the retirements of two giants of the in-house communications sector — IBM's Jon Iwata and GE's Beth Comstock amid considerable evolution of the corporate communications role. Elsewhere, Holmes and Arun Sudhaman also discuss the PR industry's ongoing efforts to improve ethical standards after the Bell Pottinger scandal, including Richard Edelman's call for improved policies and enforcement.

PR veteran Deb Radman explains the value of non-traditional hires in public relations, the power of intuition, and the necessity of courage. She explains how PR nightmares come from bad decisions. She presented the James C. Bowling Executive-In-Residence Lecture Series in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Integrated Strategic Communication. She also draws on lessons from Harold Burson, Richard Edelman, Betsy Plank, CKPR and the USO.

JPM International Chairman Jacob Frenkel said we are close to being out of the financial crisis. Richard Edelman, Edelman President & CEO, said trust has imploded in institutions and media has become part of the elite. David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group Co-Founder, said there is a lot of angst in the global middle class. Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs said 5G will be driven by the end markets and will move beyond just phones and into drones and robots. Skybridge Co-Managing Partner Anthony Scaramucci said President-Elect Trump wants to equalize and create symmetry in trading relationships. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

JPM International Chairman Jacob Frenkel said we are close to being out of the financial crisis. Richard Edelman, Edelman President & CEO, said trust has imploded in institutions and media has become part of the elite. David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group Co-Founder, said there is a lot of angst in the global middle class. Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs said 5G will be driven by the end markets and will move beyond just phones and into drones and robots. Skybridge Co-Managing Partner Anthony Scaramucci said President-Elect Trump wants to equalize and create symmetry in trading relationships.

The first episode of 2017 kicks off the new year with discussions about Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the PR implications of voice technology, and Richard Edelman’s PR predictions for 2017. Plus, in Quick News & Quick Takes: Facebook’s new live audio feature, a survey of social media use by executives, and the most-shared video brand of 2016. Also, in the Talking Points “2 Cents” segment, Arik and Kevin put on their talk radio hats and discuss Minnesota sports (the collapse of the Vikings’ season, the Gopher football’s team’s new rah-rah head coach and the strong start by the Gopher men’s basketball team), plus a New York Times story that looked at the unwritten rules kids apply to using social media with their friends. For show notes, visit http://thetalkingpointspodcast.com.

ENTREVISTA COMPLETA, EN INGLÉS, CON RICHARD EDELMAN, CEO DE EDELMAN.

The Holmes Report's Arun Sudhaman catches up with Richard Edelman at the 2015 Cannes Lions Festival, to discuss the PR industry's presence at the event. Edelman also responds to his agency's heightened media profile over the past year, and comments on the ongoing investigation into the firm's China operation.  Separately, Sudhaman sits down with H+K Strategies content and publishing head Vikki Chowney to discuss the highs and lows from this year's Cannes festival, and the marketing trends worth watching.

2011 Edelman Trust Barometer

Richard Edelman discusses what the results of the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer mean for B2B focused organizations.  This interview was conducted as part of the research for an upcoming book about the B2B applications of social media that I am writing with Paul Gillin, which will be published by Wiley later this year. 02:14 –… The post Mosaic of Trust with Richard Edelman appeared first on Eric Schwartzman.

2010 Edelman Trust Barometer: The Tenth Annual Global Opinion Leaders Study on Trust and Credibility

Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman, gives his insights on how businesses have lost reputational ground in 2008 ad a crisis of confidence in CEOs